Starting Over 2
by Devils Anarchist
Summary: Sequel to Starting Over. Secrets, every village has their own secrets. But this secret is something that should have never left the leaves. The one mistake they made was telling an outsider , about the past between a Uzumaki and an Uchiha. Renamed.
1. Returning to the past

**Secrets Of A Hidden Village-**

_**The new story! This is the** **Sequel to Starting over!**_

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Sakura sat on one of the various hospital beds, she silently gazed out the window looking for an answer she obviously wouldn't find just by sitting there. She hadn't been going on as many missions as she would have liked, she for some reason had been stuck in Konoha. The only thing she could think of why the Hokage would keep her here is so she doesn't stumble upon Naruto. It had been two exact years now since he'd left, and no one had been able to figure out where the blonde had gone to. It was as if he'd disappeared off the face of the earth. Jiraiya had been asking about him when he had been gathering information on Akatsuki but it seems that no one had seen a blonde wandering around.

Naruto was probably still wearing _non ninja clothes _for the past two year, it wouldn't surprise her. That was probably his plan, it was a sure fire way to not get tracked. Dress like a normal person and act that way, and show no indication that you ever belonged to a village. She had also figured that's why he left his head protector here.

Sakura had been seeing Sasuke ever two weeks, it always went the same way, asking how he was and what his improvements were, and how he thought of Konoha. But it always made her depressed every time she'd go to see him, every time she'd go there the first question would be. _**Where's Naruto**_ nothing more and nothing less, that would be all he'd ever ask or speak at times. It pained her to see him looking depressed not getting any answers from no one, that's the way it goes though. He was a special case though, there wasn't anything they could really do. Normally ninja who betray there home village would get tracked down and killed. But Naruto had made the Hokage promise to keep him locked away till they thought it was fit, and she only agreed to that on one condition if he were to live he wasn't allowed any information about the out side world.

Naruto had disagreed to that to his fullest telling the Hokage it would make him go almost insane not to be able to know anything at all. To be left in the dark, such as he was when he was a child how everyone ignored him. But he finally gave in and agreed, but he told the Hokage he wanted to be the one to tell Sasuke everything that has happened to leaf when he'd gone with Orochimaru and when he was locked away, and she agreed but now it seemed that he may not get that honour if he didn't return.

Sakura then gave a low sigh and got up from her day dreaming and slowly started out of the very white room, today would be the day she'd get a mission the first one in 6 months. As she walked down the streets she looked all around at the villagers they seemed as happy as ever, it sickened her to see them so happy when most if not all the ninja were either worried, or depressed such as her. She wore a bit different style of clothing then she did when she was 15, the top looked much like the one she wore when she was 12, except it cut off a little past her hips and then she wore a black pair of shorts that ended at her mid thighs. her hair had grown much longer it was now as long as it had been when she was 12 years old. She no longer wore those long black boots either, Onime had given her a pair of high heels that she said were actually comfy. They were uncomfortable at first, but then got used to them. She couldn't understand why the _'cat girl' _as Naruto called her could possibly wear stiletto heals. She also wore white cloth that was around her elbows to protect them and he hair was mainly up now a days, even though short hair was easier to deal with, she liked her long hair. But this time she didn't grow it for Sasuke, she grew it for herself.

As she entered the tower she silently knocked on the door, she was now almost 19 years old. She was an adult now and a Junnin, she could easily start to train Genin. But she didn't want to do that just yet, right now she was just trying to figure out her life. As she walked then the doors of the Hokages room she noticed a 16 year old standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and there stood leaning against the wall the last person she'd ever except to see, Sasuke Uchiha. Her mouth slightly gapped open till the brown haired boy turned around and gave her the nastiest look she'd ever seen. But for some odd reason she'd seen him somewhere before, but she had a hard time thinking where she'd seen him. He was actually quite good looking, well he would be if he wasn't glaring at her. Then her attention turned to the Uchiha who as also looking at her with an amused look upon his face. She hadn't been able to see him for the last month or two because of the ANBU guards were doing something _special_ to the Uchiha. He wore black sort of baggy pants, a long black sleeved shirt that was slightly opened with his families crest on the back, and a sword slung around his hips along with other pouches. He'd become a junnin just by luck actually he wanted to become a ANBU but they refused till he did some low class missions and a few high class ones. Now he was forced to do these pathetic C and D ranked ones till he could prove himself.

"Uhhhh...why is Sasuke-" But before she could finish the Hokage interrupted her.

"Uchiha Sasuke can fill you in later, for now I will tell you your mission."

"Hai!" Said Sakura as she looked at the Hokage.

"Your mission will be a simple C ranked mission to deliver Inari back home to the land Of Waves"

"But lord Hokage a C ranked? I am a junnin..." Started Sakura.

"I know, but for now to get Sasuke back into the way of our village he will start at the bottom and work his way up like everyone else even though he as well is a junnin he will do the same things as Genin till I decide to let him go on higher class missions" Said The Hokage.

"Inari you say? haven't I heard that before..." Started Sakura as she went in front of the teen and looked him square in the eyes as if trying to read a book looking for something that she possibly couldn't see. All he could do was slightly blush at Sakura's semi little opened shirt. _She was showing a bit of cleavage. _

"He's that brat from Land of Waves that we stayed with"

"Hmm...oh now I see it...wow you've grown into a cutie!" Said Sakura with a little bit of a squeal as she pinched his cheek and watched him blush.

"Sakura" Started the Hokage.

"Oh! Sorry" Smiled Sakura as she stepped away and looked at Sasuke for a little while.

"I don't want to go with them" Stated Inari.

"What?!" Said an alarmed Hokage.

"You can't refuse who you want to go with." Said Sakura with a bit of amusement in her voice.

"..." Sasuke stayed silent but somewhat agreed.

"What's the problem with these two? They were the two that guided your grandfather back home, but for the exception of Kakashi but he is away" Said the Hokage.

"I want Naruto" He said sternly. And with this brief sentence Sakura's eyes lowered and she gave a low sigh, she always tried to avoid these conversations. Even Sasuke was a bit surprised about the sudden remark. He still had no idea where Naruto was every one was either to scared to tell him or refused. He even played Shogi with Shikamaru to find out where Naruto was, but he refused and beat Sasuke badly. Sakura then walked over to him, they were about the same height with her heals on.

"Naruto isn't here, he's on a mission at the moment. and we don't know for sure when he will return. So it would be easier just to let us take you" Said Sakura as she averted her gaze from the boy. He knew right away she was telling the truth but also lying all at once.

"Where is he...you told me that you all travel in three man cells...why is Naruto alone?" Asked Inari as he looked at Sakura.

"Uh...actually that's our villages secret, so I am not allowed to speak of it" Said Sakura as she gave him this look at said. _I'll tell you later_.

"...Fine"

"Good! now hurry up and go" Smiled the Hokage.

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The next day around 6 in the morning they had left to leave to the land of waves it was now 2 in the afternoon. No one had really spoken a word except for a sigh or a breath saying time for a brake. So as they walked silently Inari was the first to speak.

"Where's Naruto?" He questioned as he looked at Sasuke for some type of answer, not knowing the past between the two leaf ninjas.

"Ask Sakura" He said as she continued to walk giving the pink haired girl a side glare.

"No, I asked you...you two are friends right? I remember you two pushing each other every day when you were in our village...you two are good if not best friends right? So I want you to tell me" Said Inari

"I can't" said Sasuke as he glared at nothing.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"What he means is...he doesn't know where Naruto is"

"Why..."

"Sasuke left our village for four years...and was brought back only 2-3 years ago...and in that time period Naruto had left. And Sasuke wasn't allowed to hear anything from the outside the walls of his home till this year."

"So where's Naruto...Sakura...why did he leave? was it because of Sasuke?" Said Inari after a short yet long pause and getting a death glare from the Uchiha.

"At the current moment...I don't know. He left out village two years ago and I haven't gotten a word about him. No one has. And yes he partly left because of Sasuke" said Sakura as she looked away from the Uchiha.

"But why did he leave?"

"..." Sakura stayed silent.

"Tell him" Said Sasuke as he looked at her.

"...Sasuke?"

"I want to know why he left, I've been in the dark for this long I deserve to know why he

left" Stated the Uchiha.

"No you don't..." Said Sakura as she glared at him.

"..." He looked at her with a semi shocked/surprised expression across his face.

"Why did..." Inari started.

"Fine, I'll tell you..." Said an annoyed Sakura as she glared at the boy before her.

"..."

"..."

"After we had brought Sasuke back, Naruto was rushed to hospital along with Sasuke. But he stayed in the ANBU special unit area, while Naruto was rushed to the hospital. And he was almost dead when he had gotten there, it took the Hokage most of the night to close his wounds and try to heal what he ruined."

"Ruined?" Started the teenager

"Yes, you see there is a technique the Fourth Hokage had created but never finished due to the sealing of the Nine tailed fox inside one of the children of Konoha. So our teacher decided to teach or _'half'_ teach Naruto that very technique."

"What does the Jutsu do?

"It's designed somewhat like a thousand knives...that's how I would explain it. Its a wind technique...when used it cuts off all Chakra threads in ones body...from every cell, and its highly affective. He took out an Akatsuki member with it...and also tried to take out Sasuke..."

"Tried? what happened? why did he leave... I want to know"

"Hold on...im trying to tell you."

"..."

"He didn't use it to his fullest against Sasuke, because if he had, Sasuke wouldn't be able to use his chakra right now. And the one problem with a Jutsu that big is..."

"Is?????"

"It inflicts almost 20 percent of the same type of damage upon the user...Naruto had once used it three times, and broke his arm in a few places and lost some of his chakra cells while doing so. So when he used it against Sasuke he only let Sasuke get the 20 percent if that and inflicted the 70-80 percent of damage upon himself in order so Sasuke could stay as a leaf ninja"

"So why did he leave?"

"Naruto left because there was nothing we could do for him"

"What do you mean?"

"Once the battle was over, almost if not all charka cells were cut off in his body, in other words Naruto cannot use his chakra anymore...which means he could never become a ninja again. Sure he has taijutsu...but it still involves some chakra, and once Naruto found that out he tried to get the Hokage to find a way to help him out but even she couldn't do anything and she's the best medical ninja in the country"

"..." Sasuke looked at the ground taking in all the information he was pissed off at the blonde for going easy on him but also pissed off at himself for letting it all happen. Naruto gave up his life long dream to save him, it actually showed how much Naruto valued there friendship.

"Why couldn't Naruto just be a normal common person?" And with that said, Sakura started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh till her eyes somewhat watered and Sasuke and Inari were giving her the weirdest look ever.

"Could you imagine Naruto living a normal slow life like normal people? it just isn't him...Naruto would go insane if he were to stay that way. It just isn't his nature he was born to be a ninja and he was born to die a ninja that's the way he wanted to live no matter what. So he's gone out to search the world if he must, to go look for someone to help him out" Said Sakura.

"So if Naruto doesn't get better...then?"

"He will never return home..." Said Sakura as she looked at the ground depression written across her face.

"Never?"

"No...that's his way of the ninja...as he told me once. He never goes back on his word, isn't that right Sasuke" Said Sakura a little harshly getting no reply from the Uchiha.

"..."

"I believe in Naruto...he'll become Hokage...even if its for a short while, I believe he will become a great Hokage...one that will change things for the good" Smiled the brunette as he marched ahead of them.

"We all do..." Smiled Sakura.

"HEY!" Said the kid instantly, causing the two 18-19 years olds to slightly jump and glare at him for suddenly yelling.

"What" said Sasuke as he glared at the kid.

"Don't have to be so mean..." Said Inari

"Hn"

"What's with the large sword your caring, you had one yesterday? what's with that one" Said Inari as he pointed to Zabuza's sword.

"Do you remember the man named Zabuza? and a boy named Haku?" Asked Sakura.

"Yeah..."

"Well that's his sword and were returning it" Smiled Sakura.

"How did it get lost?"

"Someone had taken it...so where bring it back"

"Why would someone take it?"

"You ask to many questions" Said Sasuke as he looked at the 16 year old.

"Do not!...fine...Sakura..."

"Yes?"

"What does Naruto look like?"

"What????"

"What does he look like"

"Last time I saw him...was the day he left Konoha. Konohamaru and I were the very last people to see him. And last I saw of him was that he was wearing all black, and wore a necklace with three stones. And had his same bright blonde hair. He looks the exact same really except he looked a bit older."

"Same smile?!" Said the teen.

"..."

"Sakura"

"I really don't know anymore" She said as she looked into the sky thinking of Naruto, and all the times he'd make her mad with his smile, and that's when she realized she hoped it was still the same. Or it truly wouldn't be Naruto just some guy who looked like him, without the smile it just wouldn't be Naruto.

It was a days travel to the bridge where they had to cross in order to get to the village. As they approached it the two males continued to walk until they both noticed that Sakura wasn't following anymore she was looking behind them at something walking in the woods towards them.

"Sakura" Said Sasuke.

"Huh? oh...uhh, did you two see something?" She said as she looked at the trees.

"No" Said the two males as they looked at her.

"I didn't sense anything, come on" said Sasuke as he continued to walk.

"Right...then lets get...what in the" Said Sakura all of a sudden as she turned around to see the bridge finally built and the name was the thing that instantly struck her with confusion.

**The great Naruto bridge**

"That's what we decided to name the bridge, once you guys left"

"If only Naruto could see this now...he'd be beaming. This would probably bring the biggest smile ever to his face" Said Sakura as she looked at it.

So they continued to walk down the bridge till they got into the main part of town and went to Inaris house to stay the night and then leave in the morning.

It was about 4 in the morning and Inari was out side on the bride looking out into the ocean. Every morning he would normally get up at six, and go to work. But today the two leaf ninjas were leaving around 6 so he wanted to see them off. So he decided to kill some time by walking around, and he found himself wander to the bridge. His mother had always scolded him on going there so early in the morning since there was always such a think layer of fog in the morning and anyone could attack him. But he never took that into thought till that morning when he walked to the start of the bridge that lead into the village when he saw someone or something standing looking up at the sign. He was a bit scared he could admit that because instead of moving backwards to the village he instead walked to the stranger full of fear but someone thing told him to move forward.

So as he walked towards the stranger, he/she didn't even move. They had noticed Inaris presence but didn't care. So as Inari was directly 5-7 feet away from the man from what he could tell his fear was suddenly gone because there in front of him stood a blonde taller then him, with blue eyes. A smile like none other was there, He had a small pony tail coming down from the base of his neck as well as some hairs on his face. As Inari looked at the man he was about to speak when the blonde looked directly at him for a few moments till he smiled.

"Hey"

"Hi..." said Inari a bit nervous.

"I like the name" Smiled the blonde.

"T-Thanks...my grandfather came up with it"

"Heh, no surprise there..."

"You going into the village?"

"No, I just came out, what I was looking for wasn't there" Smiled the blonde.

"Oh..." Said Inari kind of depressed.

"Don't look so sad, doesn't suit you" Smiled the blonde.

"Heh...can you keep a secret?"

"Yes"

"If you see leaf ninja, don't tell them what way I am going. Its easier to walk around without having to worry about some leaf ninja following you" Smiled the blonde as he turned to leave.

"But aren't you a ninja?"

"No" Said the blonde looking into the sky as it started to clear and started on his way.

And at that moment Inari noticed a necklace catch the suns light, and the family crest upon his arm. And instantly he knew who it was he had been talking to.

"NARUTO!" Yelled Inari. The blonde stopped of a moment before turning to look at the teen.

"What's wrong with getting help from a fellow ninja? there your team mates...they'd do anything to help you. So why is it that..."

"I travel alone? This is my burden to carry no one else's...I was the cause of a man to die twice...I learned a technique that is forbidden. I used it over nine times in my life...its because of the fourth Hokage I travel alone"

"Because of the fourth????"

"Yeah...I need to find out what I want in my life time, and I cant do that with other people tagging along. Because I wouldn't want to ruin ones life on something that might not even exist." Said Naruto sounding a lot like Sasuke at the moment.

"So your going to ruin yours? that's stupid"

"Heh...its all in how you look at it. Tell them I said Hello, and im ok...will you Inari" Said

Naruto as he continued to walk away slowly getting in golfed by trees.

About an hour later Sasuke and Sakura came walking down the bridge, both not talking and both not fully awake after having a little bit of sleep due to the fact they heard there was a blonde who suited Naruto's description wandering around town. As they neared the end of the bridge they noticed Inari looking in one specific spot, as they came closer he suddenly turned around and looked at the two. They stayed quite of a few moments till he spoke.

"He does smile" Said the teen.

"What?" Said Sakura suddenly confused.

"Naruto, he does smile..."

"How would you know what? Asked Sakura.

"He says Hello, and that he's ok" Smiled Inari.

"What way did he go?" Asked Sasuke determined to bring the idiot back.

"Secret"

"What!" Said Sakura.

"..." -Sasuke

"Im not allowed to tell, but he's doing ok, and he doesn't want you to be sad Sakura. He

does smile, even wider then ever when he saw the sign. As he was leaving"

"Leaving..." Said Sakura kind of disappointed.

"What time did he leave?" Asked Sasuke.

"Around 4 or 4:30 this morning."

"He wouldn't have gotten far" Said Sakura.

"He doesn't want you to go after him"

"But..."

"That loser..."

"And even if I knew where he was going I wouldn't tell you" Smiled the brunette as he

walked away.

"...Naruto" Said Sakura looking into the sky.

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**Canadian-Girl **

_What did all of you think? Hoping you all liked it! Anyways Sorry of the story name is kinda lame but hey! I tried! Please review if you want a chapter two!_


	2. Blue eyes

**I couldn't be happier for the amount of reviews I have received in the week or two this has been posted. I am very glad you all enjoyed the first chapter, and I am hoping for somewhat of the same amount of reviews. I will be looking forward to them. And please try to log in, its hard to reply to something you can't reply to. Anyways…I really want to thank my new BETA..she ahs helped me out a lot with this chapter and I was highly impressed with the amount of time it took her to fix it up for me. **

Special thanks to

**Moogle Girl X2 **

You rule!

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**Chapter Two: Blue eyes**

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**3 years, Naruto still gone.**

**There all about 20**

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Sakura was standing at the gate, simply standing there looking out into the distance. It was her job to go and get the sheets on who's been in and out of the gate. Stopping her daydreaming, she walked over to the two guards and grabbed the sheets. They both looked at her, noticing that she seemed more depressed now that Naruto was gone than when Sasuke was gone. As she grabbed the papers and started to walk away she banged into someone. She looked around and noticed Konohamaru on the ground rubbing his butt.

"Oh! Sorry Konohamaru, are you alright?" asked Sakura as she helped him up.

"Yeah, sorry Sakura, I wasn't paying attention," chirped the sixteen-year-old boy. A small blush crept onto his face.

"No, its my fault. Are you on your way to go on a mission?" asked the twenty-year-old kunoichi.

"Yeah! were headed to Suna," he replied.

"Suna? Why are you going there?" asked Sakura. She was totally lost.

"I dunno, the Kazekage or something needs our help"

"Oh..."

"You're getting your first batch of students today, right?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet them in the first training ground"

"Why not the third? I mean, that's the one most familiar to you right? Where you all trained and stuff? Like, even your sensei trained there, didn't they?" Konohamaru questioned, gazing at the pink-haired woman.

"I don't know actually. I guess I just picked the first. And the third training ground is sort of torn up after Kakashi's battle with Sasuke," said Sakura. _'Those stupid idiots and their training! They destroyed the whole training ground! Shannaro!'_ Inner Sakura griped.

"MOMMY!" A small three year old boy shouted as he ran away from a dark-haired six year old.

"Did he have silver hair…?" asked Sakura as she watched the silver-haired three-year-old run toward a woman with long brown hair and latch onto her leg.

"MOMMY!!" shouted the little boy yet again.

"Kain, what's the matter?" asked Ayame as she looked at the little boy, lifting him up.

"MOMMY!!" Kain cried once more.

"Asuma, what were you two doing?" asked the elder woman as she looked down to the six-year-old boy.

"Nothing..." Asuma Jr. replied. As he looked away, he noticed his mother walking down the street and ran the in the opposite direction

"Ayame?" Sakura strode up to the elder woman, along with Konohamaru.

"Yes?" asked Ayame.

"...Umm, where did that come from?" Sakura inquired, pointing at the boy.

"From inside me, silly!" The woman smiled as she adjusted her grip on child. Konohamaru gave her the weirdest look you could possibly imagine, caused by the words 'inside me.'

"I mean, who's the father?"

"KAKWASHI!" The little boy squeaked, a grin adorning his small face. (pronounced: ka-qua-shi)

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shrieked, horrified.

"Yo," Kakashi said as he appeared behind them.

"AHH!" yelled Konohamaru as Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder, scaring the living daylights out of him.

"Kakashi, do you mind explaining?!" Sakura queried as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Sakura," Sasuke cut in, his face appearing to say 'shut up, you're being way too loud this early in the morning.'

"Kakashi, when did you get married?!" Sakura shrilled as Sasuke walked up from behind. Ayame stood next to her.

"Married?" questioned the Uchiha. That's when Sakura pointed to the little boy and to Kakashi with both of her arms. Sasuke looked at the kid, then to Kakashi with a curious look.

"About two years ago," Ayame replied, smiling.

"But he looks like he's three." Sakura was definitely confused.

"That's right, he turned three this year."

"KAKASHI! You got her pregnant, then waited a year to marry her?!" Sakura glared at the man and held the neck of his shirt, who now had a sweat drop going down his neck. He looked down at her.

"Well you see..."

"The year I was pregnant he was away most of the time, but we were engaged, so don't get so mad. Would you like to hold him?" Ayame asked as she handed the child over to Sakura, the action really being used to just get her off Kakashi's case.

"Wow! He does look a lot like Kakashi, but he has your eyes." Sakura smiled as the little boy blushed and laughed as she tickled him.

"..." Sasuke was silent.

"But..." started Sakura.

"What's wrong?" asked Ayame.

"Does he have Kakashi's face?" asked Sakura, staring intently at the child. That's when Sasuke remembered they have never seen their teacher's face. They remembered once when they were twelve they had tried, but failed miserably when the only thing he showed was another mask.

"Actually, yes." Ayame chuckled.

"You've seen his face!" The two twenty-year-olds shouted. They looked at each other, then to Kakashi, then to Ayame, and then to the boy, trying to figure out what their teacher's face looks like. Meanwhile, Konohamaru was shocked when Sasuke and Sakura yelled. It was so unlike him at that moment.

"Yes of course I have," laughed the elder woman as she took the child away from Sakura and let him on the ground to walk over to Kakashi. The masked father picked him up.

"Too bad Naruto-bro couldn't see this." Konohamaru grinned.

"He'd be laughing like crazy." Sakura added.

"Well, this could be the year he comes back." Kakashi smiled as he picked up his son, who looked at him rather sternly for a three year old.

"Dad."

"That sounds weird." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah, I would have never imaged Kakashi as a father. I mean, he's kind of lazy, always late, a pervert..." Sakura continued to lengthen her list until she received an odd look from Kakashi.

_'When did they stop respecting me?'_ was the only thought in his mind.

"What is it?" asked Kakashi as he looked at his son.

"What's a Nawato?" _(Na-wa-Toe)_

"Naruto is a leaf ninja like Sasuke and Sakura. He's their third teammate and my other student." answered Kakashi.

"Whewe's Nawato?" questioned the child. He obviously had trouble saying words with an 'R'.

"Ask Sasuke," Sakura snapped, getting a glare from the raven-haired man.

"He's on a mission," Kakashi replied quickly so he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Oh. Why?" Kain inquired further.

"Because, Kain. Naruto is a ninja, and ninjas go on very important missions. Sometimes they don't come back for a while." Sakura explained.

"Is Nawato's mission impowtant?"

"Yes, his mission is a very important one."

"I hwope he cwomes bwack, I want to swee Nawato" Kain replied.

"We all do."

"Do you wike Nawato?"

"Me?" Asked Sakura.

"Yah!"

"Well, of course I like Naruto. There aren't many people that actually hate Naruto." The young woman smiled at the thought.

"I wanna meet Nawato."

"When he comes back, I'll make sure you'll be one of the first to meet him, okay?"

"Kay!"

"Well, we better go see Dad before he gets worried about you, too." Ayame said as she took the child from Kakashi. She gave him a smile as she walked down the street with the boy following closely behind.

"To think someone that cheerful fell in love with someone like you," said Sakura as she shook her head, only to get a sweat drop forming on the back of Kakashi's head.

"You're late. The Hokage forced me to come look for you," Sasuke said as he looked over to the pink-haired girl.

"Late?...Sasuke, what are you...OH MY GOD! I FORGOT!" Sakura shouted as she sped down the road toward the first training ground.

"She's one to talk about being on time," muttered Kakashi as he looked at Sasuke. Said Uchiha was gazing ahead of them, watching the gate.

"What's wrong?" Konohamaru asked as he followed the young man's gaze to a blonde-haired guy about Sasuke's age walking out of the village.

"You don't think..." Kakashi trailed off as he squinted at the blonde.

"..." Sasuke stayed silent as he watched.

"I'm going to find out!" chirped the sixteen-year-old as he pumped his fist into the air. He started to run towards the blonde.

"Wait!" shouted Sasuke, but it was too late. The brown-haired boy was already running off.

"He's a mini version of Naruto," Kakashi mused. Sasuke scoffed

"Naruto was more mature at that age."

"How would you know? You weren't here when he was sixteen. He was still an idiot. Him and the fourth running around the village, it was double the mayhem. Then when Konohamaru joined in, well, you didn't want to see that. Be glad you weren't here," Kakashi grinned.

"The fourth…"

"Hmm?"

"What was he like?" Sasuke asked, looking at Kakashi. It was normal for him now to ask a dozen questions, due to the fact he knew nothing of the years he wasn't here.

"The fourth Hokage? As in Arashi Kazama?"

"..." Sasuke glared at him. In his mind, he was yelling, _'who the hell else would I be asking about?!'_

"Well, from the time he was my sensei he was a very smart man, and still was. But, the weird thing was no matter how much I hate to admit it, when he was here in Konoha with Naruto he was the happiest I'd ever seen him. Naruto was about the same, kind of depressed though because you were gone, but equally happy to learn techniques from the fourth that none of us could teach him."

"What did he learn?" Sasuke wanted to know what Naruto had actually been taught.

"I don't know, only three people actually know what the fourth taught him. One's dead, one's on a mission and the other is in Suna."

"Suna?" Sasuke was now confused. And that hasn't happened in quite a long time.

"Yes, she is currently acting as the Kazekage's head of hunter-nins. She asked to get transferred there."

"And he openly agreed?"

"Yeah, there's something going on between Gaara and that girl. You know her, actually."

"I do?" Sasuke said rather dryly. Of all the girls he remembered, they were still all here.

"Yes, you attacked her a few years ago...and she's the one that got you out of the ANBU jail."

"..." Sasuke kept silent, trying to think of that day.

**

* * *

****flashback****

* * *

**

Sasuke had been sitting in the furthest corner of his cell, glaring at everything he saw. The other prisoners were actually terrified of the Uchiha. They had heard rumours about the teen.

The sound of high heels clicking on the stone cold ground could be heard. His first thought went to Sakura. She hadn't seen him in over two weeks now. He was ready to get up before she got there, to avoid facing her wrath. As he was kneeling, he noticed right away it wasn't her. This girl, from what he could tell, anyway, had an odd bluish-green hair colour and she was wearing a weird version of the ANBU uniform. It consisted of a tight, sleeveless black dress that ended at her mid thigh, with black netted shorts that ended just below her dress. It had a standard white ANBU vest, it ended a little higher in the waist, and a little lower in the chest area. Her dress had a hole in the shape of an eye, almost showing a bit of cleavage, and two long black gloves that ended at the elbow. Both had metal on the arm for protection, and she wore a mask similar to Kakashi. An ANBU mask was in her hand and her eyes were closed the whole time until she opened and entered his cell. She sat down at the table, though her eyes remained closed.

Sasuke looked at her oddly, not sure what to do. He hated when random women came in and started to talk and flirt with him, especially in a locked room which he couldn't use his jutsus in. He then got up and walked over to her, sitting down across from her. The two ninja were about a meter and a half apart.

"So, I hear you have a unique ability that you can do with your eyes," she started, her eyes still remaining shut.

"..." Sasuke was silent. Everyone knew that the only thing he was thinking was, _'Is she blind or something?'_

"No, I am not blind. I was just asking that because I, too, have a unique ability. Nothing like yours, though," she said with a smile as she opened her eyes to reveal catlike yellow eyes. He could swear she was looking right through him. With those eyes, it was as if she were looking into the depths of his soul and beyond. It was actually disturbing.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said, a little too harshly, trying to wrap his brain around the fact that she just answered a question he asked himself in his mind.

"Don't be so harsh, and anyways, you should know. You attacked me last year," she answered simply as she crossed her legs, placing her hands on the table while holding a sword under them. Sasuke knew at that moment it was his sword she had.

"..."

"Hmm, just as I thought. So do you know why I am here?"

"To kill me." Sasuke spat, glaring.

"Kill you? God no! And if I were, believe me, I wouldn't kill you with your own sword. No, I am here to see if you are worthy to go out into the world."

"...?" Sasuke was completely and utterly confused.

"Don't tell me you thought Sakura was the one that got to say when you got set free," she said while looking at him. Seeing his expression, the answer was obviously 'yes'.

"You? Great, I'm never getting out," muttered Sasuke.

"That's what I was thinking to when I came down here with a heart full of hate set towards you, because what after you did...you ruined my life. That day I wished you had killed me when you did."

"No you don't."

"You don't think? My job was taken away because of you. I can no longer perform normal missions anymore. You ruined my chances at become a skillful ninja. It strikes me as odd though, in every person you attacked, you never once hit their vital points until you attacked me." She sent him a hateful glare.

"So?"

"So? I honestly don't understand why Naruto would ruin his own life to get you back," she snapped.

"Ruin his life?" he asked, now sitting up straight. It had been the first time someone had mentioned his name around him.

"Never mind. Now, all you have to do is answer a few simple questions," she continued as his eyes narrowed. From what Sasuke knew about cats, their pupils narrow when there is either enough or too much light. But why on earth were hers doing it in a completely dark room?

"Now, question one..."

* * *

**end of flashback****

* * *

**

"You said she's head of hunter-nins in Suna," Sasuke recounted.

"Yes."

"How's that possible when her body was damaged by me?"

"Just because she's the head of it doesn't mean she actually has to do anything. Sure, it's harder for her now. But she's happy where she is, too. The only reason she transferred was because of her mother."

"Not me?"

"No, she was already in Suna when you were with the ANBU. We asked her to come back, just for you."

"Why?"

"Naruto."

"Naruto?"

"He wanted her to make the final decision. No one else. She held a grudge against you. That's why he knew if she could believe you wanted out that bad, and she no longer held a grudge, then you were ready."

"Why her? Why not Ibiki?"

"Why? Because he's interrogation, and did you ever notice what her eyes did when she asks a question that needs the truth?"

"..."

"How they slant, like a cat's when it hits light?" said Kakashi as he made a mini demonstration with his hands.

"…" Sasuke stayed silent, trying to recall once again. He nodded his head.

"Well, that's one of her two abilities. Those eyes act as a truth mechanism. Once you loom into her eyes when there like that, even for a split second, you won't be able to lie to her no matter what. But it uses up almost all of her Chakra." Kakashi smiled as Konohamaru came running back.

"It wasn't him…" Konohamaru said, sounding depressed.

"Of course not. If it were Naruto, he'd make himself known. He isn't in fire country anymore and won't be till he comes back to Konoha. From what we have heard, he's been to every village in fire country. So he won't be around for a while. And you better get going, Konohamaru, you're late as well."

"..." The sixteen-year-old stayed silent and then ran off quickly swearing under his breath.

"Kids these days."

"Where's Naruto now?" Sasuke queried.

"Truthfully?"

"..."

"I have no idea, we lost track of him once he left sound."

"He was in sound?!"

"Yes, a few old men reported seeing the great fourth Hokage wandering around. I still can't believe it, its been years since the third ninja war, and people still run from the sight of the fourth Hokage!" Kakashi chuckled, his voice slightly trailing off.

"..."

"Don't feel bad, Naruto knew what he was doing when he risked his life to get you," said Kakashi as he looked toward the sun.

"That loser would laugh at you if he saw the kid." Sasuke smirked as he said that.

"I know, that's why when he returns, we're not going to tell him till he figures it out." Kakashi grinned as Sasuke sweat dropped. Even an idiot could tell the kid was Kakashi's.

**

* * *

**

Sakura dashed toward the training ground, swearing under her breath as she passed from rooftop to rooftop. There were various genin running around headed towards there ideal spots to meet there new teachers. They had stopped meeting in the school, because now there was a larger number of kids and they needed the classrooms. So, they all decided to either meet at the training ground or somewhere else around the village. Shikamaru was meeting his students at some hill, or as Choji called it, Shikamaru's hideaway.

Slowly but surely, the houses started to disappear and Sakura was finally running through the trees. She noticed two kids walking towards the training ground, hoping that none of hers were there yet. So as she finally landed in the center, she looked around. Looking behind her, she saw a young boy glaring at her with a killing intent. As she acquired a nervous upon her features, she saw the two students from before come out from behind the trees. One was a girl with long brown hair tied up in a black ribbon. Her clothes consisted of basically all black. She wore a black dress somewhat similar to Sakura's when she was twelve and a pair of white pants in under it.

The other boy had weirdly coloured orange hair and was a little taller then the girl. He, on the other hand, wore a white long-sleeved shirt that covered his entire neck with a green stripe running down the sleeves, and wore a pair of black pants. His shirt was somewhat open, and he wore a mesh shirt, from what she could tell, underneath.

The kid behind her was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and a mesh shirt under it that ended at his hands and looped around his thumb. He wore darker blue shorts that had some netting ending just a little from the shorts, you could barely see it. His hair was a blonde colour that was pulled back into a low ponytail, but had somewhat of the same hairstyle as Naruto. From what she noted, he had four piercings in his ears; one in his right ear, two in the left, and one in the cartridge of his left ear. She could tell she might be dealing with another Sasuke.

They all were in front of her now. The girl was smiling as she looked at the long pink-haired woman. She remembered her from when she was six. She broke her arm at the academy and Sakura fixed her right up. The other two boys just stared at her oddly. They stayed silent for a moment until Sakura pulled out some forms. The kids aren't even sure where the hell she pulled them out from. She ran her finger down each picture and looked at them. Then she pushed them away and started to walk away, causing the three of them to give her a weird look.

"Did she get the wrong group of kids?" asked the young girl as she watched the pink-haired woman keep walking.

"What an idiot. I can't believe a jounin went to the wrong training ground," scoffed the blonde haired guy.

The orange-haired kid stayed silent, then started to follow the woman.

"Hey! Masakazu, where the hell are you going?!" yelled the blonde.

"Maybe she wants us to follow? What do you think, Yukio?" questioned the girl.

"Come on," said the blonde. He ran up to catch up the orange haired boy and hit him a little hard. The orange haired boy stayed quiet.

"Boys," murmured the girl as she ran up and walked next the them.

**---**

Sakura finally stopped where there was a pile of rocks, there were four smaller stone and a larger one. She leaned against the larger one and watched as the three students came into view. The orange-haired boy known as Masakazu sat down on the middle rock and the other two then followed in suit.

"So.." said the girl after a long pause.

"Hello, my name is Sakura Haruno. I will be your sensei from now on, so why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" Sakura smiled as she lifted herself onto the larger rock with her foot, making a small hole in the ground.

"Sensei.what do you mean by 'introduce ourselves?'" asked the brunette.

"Like,…hmm, tell a bit about yourselves. Such as you name, what you like, what you don't like, your hobbies, what your plan is for the future, who you like, who you don't like, what you miss, who's your best friend. Those sorts of things," Sakura grinned, remembering how Kakashi asked the same thing.

"…" All three were silent.

"Sensei, can you start us off..you know to give us an idea?" asked the girl. Sakura gave a smile and crossed her legs and looked at them for a moment as to think about if she should or not.

"Okay."

The three students gave a (somewhat) smile and watched her every move.

"My name, Sakura Haruno. I am twenty years old. What I like is actually a someone, but I'm not going to tell you who. What I dislike is enemy ninjas and, umm, yes. My hobbies are a bit scattered. I don't really have any. My plan for the future is to become the best medical ninja I can, so my friends and comrades never have to go off on their own. I am unable to tell you who I dislike, well, hate, because that's something you guys don't need to worry about. And the thing I miss is one of my closest friends. My best friend would be Ino Yamanaka." Sakura raised her head to look at them. They remained silent.

"So, how about you, girl with the brown hair," said Sakura as she switched her legs to cross and gazed at her new student.

"Umm, okay. My name is Midori Sachiko. I am 12 years old. Umm, what I like is you. What I dislike is ramen. My hobbies are playing with my younger brother, Takai, and drawing. My plan for the future is to become a skillful ANBU. Who I like is all my friends. Who I dislike are these two. What I miss is my pet fox named Kyuubi," Sakura's eyes widened a bit. Midori continued, "I named his after the fox demon who attacked the village twenty years ago. And my best friend is Masakazu Shigekazu." Midori grinned as she looked at the orange-haired boy.

"But didn't you just say you didn't like these two?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, but he's my best friend. I don't like him at times because he's so quiet, and I don't like Yukio because he acts like a jerk around all us girls," Midori replied.

"Right. Okay, what about you with the earrings?" Sakura pointed to the blonde.

"Hn. My name is Yukio Yasashiku. I am 12 years old. What I like is to learn techniques, and be alone. I dislike people who are overly happy and stupid. My hobbies are fighting and trying different things. My plan for the future is to become the sixth Hokage," Sakura had an odd expression at first, then smiled. Yukio continued, "Who I like is no one in particular. What I miss the most is my family. I don't have a best friend." Yukio finished.

"You sound so much like someone I know, it's scary. But I think you have a long way to go to become Hokage. There's a man I know who has spent his whole life training to become the Hokage. So you better take that up with him," Sakura said as she looked at the blonde, seeing only the same look Sasuke once had in his eyes. _'Maybe I should introduce the two,' _thought Sakura. She then looked to the orange-haired boy.

"What about you?" she asked with a smile. Silence met her.

"Umm..."

"He's always been like that," said Midori.

"Come on, you don't have to tell me much. Just a little bit." said Sakura, almost as if she were begging.

"...My name is Masakazu Shigekazu. I am 12 years old. My birthday is in two days. What I like is nothing of interest. What I dislike is people who keep too many secrets from their comrades. My hobbies are to be with people, as well as to train myself so I can be the greatest. I don't have any future plans because I am a ninja. Ninja only have one role and it is to protect and serve the village. But if I did have any, it would be to meet my idol. I like Midori and my father. Who I dislike is Sasuke Uchiha. What I miss most is my sister. My best friend is Midori," Masakazu answered.

"Hmm. Who's your idol? And why do you hate Sasuke Uchiha? He's not such a bad person. Cold, very cold, and distant at times, a jerk the rest of the time, but he's not that bad." Sakura was confused.

"I dislike Sasuke Uchiha because my idol was his friend. When Sasuke Uchiha came back, my idol left. My idol was Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted rather loudly, only to get strange looks from her students.

"Sensei, who's Naruto Uzumaki? Do you know him?" asked Midori.

"Of course she does. If he was a ninja. of course she'd know him." said the blonde rather rudely.

"Naruto was my team mate when I became a genin. In school, he wasn't what you would call a good student. He had the lowest grades ever, but he became a genin. We were in the same group with as each other along with Sasuke Uchiha and my sensei Kakashi Hatake. When I was younger I had a major crush on my teammate Sasuke, while I hated Naruto's guts. But even then, he proved to be bad at being a ninja, always falling for the easiest of traps. But later on, I'm not quite sure when exactly, but when the chuunin exams came around he proved himself well. Sasuke and him had done way more then I had that year. They both went onto the finals. I failed the preliminary. Then, a little while after that he defeated Gaara of the Sand, the Kazekage. Then sometime after Sasuke had gone, Naruto had fought him to bring him back.. Sasuke won, though, and Naruto came back almost dead. Then time passed when Naruto was 13. A little while after that, he left with one of the legendary Sannin and trained for two and a half years." Sakura replied, not mentioning the time after.

".So what happened after?" Asked Yukio, obviously interested.

"You want to hear more? Well, sorry, we should get training," said Sakura. She noticed the three sad faces and sighed.

"Uh, fine, okay. When Naruto had come back he was fifteen. Everyone around him was thrilled. A day or two after his arrival, we were given our very first mission. It was supposed to be a C rank, but we ended up getting an S rank due to the fact that we were the only ninjas around. The mission was to bring back the Kazekage. He'd been kidnapped by the Akatsuki."

"Why was the Kazekage kidnapped?" asked Masakazu.

"What exactly is the Akatsuki?" Yukio inquired.

"Akatsuki is an organization of S-rank missing nins. No one really knows what their goals are, but for a while now, they've been trying to get the Jinchuuriki for their own power. No one knows why."

"That's why they took him, isn't it Sensei? Because Gaara of the Sand had the Shukaku inside of him," Masakazu said matter-of-factly.

"What's a Jinchuriki?" asked Midori.

"We're not supposed to know about them. It's a secret for every village who has one. There are supposed to be nine. I've only heard of three. The one-tailed beast, the three-tailed beast and the nine-tailed beast. Each with different Chakra levels and intelligence. The smartest and the one with the most Chakra, which seems limitless, was the Kyuubi. Jinchuriki are, well, basically, what we'd call them is Power of Human Sacrifice. Most villages obtained them for power, to help out in battle. And in return, they treated those with the tailed beasts like garbage."

"They were treated far worse then that." Sakura muttered lowly.

"Sensei is something the matter? Can you continue on with the story.?" asked Midori, noticing Sakura's expression. She'd watched the young woman's face the whole time.

"Yeah, sorry. Well, once we had arrived at Suna, we'd waited a day to track them down. The next day we were off, and by the time we had gotten there, our back-up team was waiting for us. We'd found their hideout. During that time, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto had gone off on another trail to find Gaara, leaving me and an elder from Suna there to battle. I'm not sure what had happened when Naruto and Kakashi-sensei had found and saved Gaara. All we know is that the Kazekage was dead when Naruto had brought him to us. The elder had used a forbidden Jutsu to save the life of the Kazekage along with some Chakra borrowed from Naruto." Sakura paused, thinking of Chiyo.

"Then, after a while, we returned to the village, but nothing was quite normal after that. We'd gone to find Sasuke sometime after that and came back with nothing. That's when Naruto started to train. I wouldn't be able to tell you what he was training for because I've only seen that Jutsu once, and it' something I never want to see again. In the middle of his training news came that Asuma, a leaf ninja, was KIA. So Naruto was forced to get it down in 24 hours to help them out. Shikamaru Nara, one of Asuma's students, had killed the Akatsuki member who had killed his sensei by the time we returned, and Naruto was being helped up by Choji The Akatsuki member was dead. When we returned, we learned that the effects of Naruto's jutsu had broken his arm."

"Then?"

"Then that's it, really. When he'd turned sixteen, the Fourth Hokage had shown up."

"So that was true!" Midori chirped.

"Yes, that's right. You guys were still young then. Yes, the fourth Hokage had shown up and started to train Naruto. I wouldn't be able to tell you what exactly they trained for or what they did. That's between the two of them. Then, came the time to get Sasuke back." said Sakura.

"We've heard the story already. Naruto went to the hospital, Sasuke was taken to the ANBU, and the fourth had come back dead. So why did Naruto Uzumaki leave exactly? Didn't he have what he wanted?" questioned the bright orange-haired kid.

"Well, yes and no. Umm, how should I say this…?"

"He's on a mission enforced by the Hokage," a somewhat deep voice said from behind them. Sakura knew who it was right away while the students where lost. Midori was looking at him with love in her eyes while the two males looked at him with questionable tastes.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?" asked Sakura as she looked at her fellow leaf ninja.

"The Hokage…"

"You've turned into a little messenger! That's so cute!" Sakura chirped as she stood in front of him, grinning.

"Sakura..." said Sasuke in a serious tone.

"But I can't just leave!" Sakura groaned as she gazed at her students. One of them was glaring at the man.

"What?" asked Sasuke as he looked at Masakazu.

"..." He just turned his head away while the others looked at him with wide eyes, and somewhat of admiring look in their eyes. Sasuke noticed the blonde right away. One glance, you'd even say he was cool.

"Sasuke, what exactly does she want?" Sakura queried as she placed her hands on her hips, gazing at the Uchiha.

"..." Sasuke then gave her this look that meant _'How the hell would I know?'_

"..Fine! Just watch over them, okay? And don't scare them." Sakura suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke stayed silent and looked at them. They just sat there staring at him. It actually freaked him out. He hated when people stared at him.

"Can you tell us about Naruto?" Midori asked the Uchiha.

"Naruto? Why do you want to know about that idiot?" Sasuke asked.

"Umm, because he's the first ninja I ever heard who's gone on a mission for three years," Yukio muttered sarcastically. He received a glare from the Uchiha.

"What was Naruto like as a kid?" Midori questioned, "Like, you know, before he became a ninja." She blushed.

"...there wasn't one," Sasuke replied coolly.

"I don't get it," said Masakazu.

"The life he had before he became a ninja is one not worth speaking. Leave it at that. Naruto didn't have a childhood like the rest of us. He had no parents. He didn't know about his parents until he was sixteen years old. Naruto lived a lonely life. The adults hated him because…never mind. Why aren't you all training?"

"Because we were introducing ourselves. Can you introduce yourself?" asked Midori.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"What Sakura sensei said about you was wrong."

"What did she say?" Sasuke was half-scared of what the pink-haired woman had said about him.

"She said you were a nice guy sometimes."

Sasuke sweat dropped. _'Only sometimes? Well, yeah, that's true. I can't argue there. But these kids ask way too many questions. And what's with the weird hair colour?'_ thought Sasuke as he gazed at the children.

"Please?" Midori was now standing in front of him, looking into his eyes.

"Will it get you to shut up and start training?" The three of them nodded.

"..Fine. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I am twenty-one years old. What I like is nothing in particular. What I dislike is a man. I don't have any real hobbies. My plan for the future is to kill a particular man, and beat the crap out of a blonde idiot. I dislike many things. What I miss is a lot, well…. My best friend...is Naruto."

Midori looked at him, then to her teammates to see if they had the same expression as she did at that moment.

_'That told us nothing.'_ thought the teammates.

"Back!" Sakura beamed as she suddenly appeared behind the students, causing them to look at her wide-eyed.

"Sakura-sensei, you're back! Do we have a mission?" asked Midori as she walked over to her teacher.

"Mission? You have to pass-" Sasuke started, but before could finish Sakura cut him off.

"Shikamaru already put them through their survival test. I was in Mist, remember? We had to get supplies. So today I officially became their sensei."

"That's right! Shikamaru-sensei's test was hard." Midori whined slightly.

"What did you have to do, anyways? He never told me." Sakura asked.

"We had to beat him at a game of Shogi.." Masakazu muttered.

"Isn't that impossible?" Sakura was bewildered. No one could beat Shikamaru at Shogi! Well is father had, more then a few times.

"Yeah. We had to cheat using team work. Except someone kept getting caught in his shadow manipulation technique," Yukio spat as he looked at his teammates.

"We passed didn't we?" Midori stuck her tongue out.

_'Shikamaru, what exactly did you do to them..?'_ Sakura wondered.

"So sensei.." Yukio started.

"Yes?" Sakura asked as she walked over to Sasuke.

"When do we get our first mission?"

"Tomorrow."

"What's it about?"

"I'm not too sure, but you're all free to go for the day. Meet at the Hokage's office tomorrow morning at six AM sharp." Sakura smiled as she watched them leave.

"Don't be late like today, sensei," Yukio said as he walked between the two.

Eye slowly twitching on her upper brow, she restrained herself from breaking the ground open from under him.

"Sasuke? What are you still doing here?" asked Sakura, realizing three hours had passed already.

"Want to get something to eat?" he asked, looking the opposite direction.

"Sure, but your paying." Sakura grinned as she walked ahead of him.

* * *

A blonde man, for the first time in two months, sneezed once. He looked around and gave a goofy grin, then started to pick out the things he needed. As he grabbed different items, another sneeze came upon him. He looked around again. People were giving him the oddest looks. He was used to them by now. He'd always received weird looks, even looks of hatred. Now they were just looks of curiosity. Well, he was a bit scruffy- looking. He wore a pair of black pants the covered his ninja sandals, and a black T-shirt. A mesh shirt came out from under it and ended at his elbows. His blonde, shaggy hair came down to the middle of his back in a single hair bow, and the rest somewhat draped around in his face. He had somewhat of a small goatee and moustache going on. His eyes showed brightness. 

He walked around the stall some more before he strode up to the counter.

"You know, sneeze once someone's talking about you, sneeze twice, someone's thinking bad things about you, sneeze thrice your getting a cold. Will that be all?" The young woman chirped.

"Yes," said the blonde as he started to pull money out, only to have his ID fall out and land on the counter for the young clerk to pick up.

"I see you're a ninja from Konoha. Well, it will be three hundred ryou, Mr. Uzumaki." The woman gave him a kind smile. A head or two turned in his direction. Not many people around these parts liked Konoha ninjas.

"No, I'm not a ninja. I need you to promise me something," Naruto began as he ran his fingers through his hair and leaned over the counter to look in her eyes. She could now see his face and she had to admit, it was a really handsome face.

"Y-yes."

"If you see anyone who asks if you've seen someone like me or my name, say no." Naruto moved away from her, his trademark foxy grin adorning his face.

"Are you a hunter ninja? Are you out to kill because if you are, then I have to tell.."

"No, I'm not a ninja at all. Not yet." The blonde turned and started on his way out. Whispers could be heard.

"Are you being tracked? Is there someone out to get you?" The seventeen-year-old girl was horrified. All he did was turn around and look at her, give a faint smile, and continue on.

**

* * *

**

**Three days later**

**

* * *

**

Two men dressed in black with red clouds walked through the small village in Wind Country. They had heard a blonde man fitting their descriptions had passed through. And they were going to find him.

They kept walking until one stopped in front of a ramen stand. Both of them entered, their straw hats down and their faces hidden. No one had ever really seen the horrid Organization members, so people around them just thought they had been ninjas.

As they walked to the counter, a young girl of seventeen looked up from her paper to stare at them. A man who wore an orange mask, and one with deep red eyes.

"Yes? How may I help you?" The seventeen-year-old smiled as she looked at the one with the mask, unsure of the one with the odd red eyes.

"Have you seen him?" inquired the elder Uchiha brother as he slipped a blonde haired man's picture on the table. The picture was old, but the woman could tell this was the picture of Naruto Uzumaki, the one who'd been here days before. She picked it up looked at it curiously. _'He was a handsome boy,'_ she thought. He looked a bit better without all his shagginess, but there was no doubt about it. She'd seen him before. She then placed the picture back on the table and looked at the masked man, giving a slight smile. That's when she remembered. _"If you see anyone who asks if you've seen someone like me or my name, say no."_

"I'm sorry, but I have never seen anyone around here whom looks anything like that. But there was a blonde man in here. He said something about heading to Konoha." The woman said as she turned around to help a customer.

"Tobi thinks she's telling Tobi the truth."

"Everyone we've asked said that." said the elder Uchiha as he walked out of the ramen stand, followed by the masked man.

**

* * *

**

Canadain-Girl


	3. Hopeless,Surprise

* * *

Chapter Three: Hopeless, Surprise

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It had been over two weeks now since she had received her students. And in reality, they weren't improving much. Now she knew how Kakashi-sensei had always felt around them. She sat silently watching her students try to master chakra control. They were trying it out for the first time today. She now knew why Kakashi always read his books because for the last hour, all they had been doing was looking at the tree and maybe getting an inch or two off the ground. Yukio was swearing quite a bit everytime he landed on his butt. While Midori was glaring at Yukio for getting much higher then her, Mazu, as her two other students had been calling him for awhile, sat on the ground playing with a small butterfly that had landed near him. Sakura could only roll her eyes.

'_These guys are actually useless. I thought it was just me, but really, even Sasuke and Naruto seemed to get higher then these two._'

As she adjusted herself into a more comfortable sitting position, she gazed at the three hopeless cases until Midori decided to call out for her.

"Sakura Sensei…" whined the 12 year old as she turned around to her teacher.

"What's wrong now?" asked Sakura as she gazed at the girl who was now glaring at her.

"I think you were lying. How the hell can you walk up a tree? It's like walking on water," said Yukio as he glared at the pink haired girl. His look always seemed to send shivers up her spine every time she looked at him. It was just something about the look in his eyes that just sent shivers down your spine.

"It's not impossible," said Masakazu as he let go of the small bug, watching it fly off.

"Then you try it, Mr. Perfect!" shouted Yukio as he glared at the orange haired kid.

"I didn't want to show you up; I wanted you to at least get it down so you don't have to look like an idiot," Said Masakazu. He then slowly raised himself up and started towards the tree, the tallest and sturdiest one he could find. He put his hands together and approached the tree, and thus started to walk perfectly up the side of the trunk until he got on the uppermost branch and walked on the underside of it. He looked at them for a long time before walking around it to sit on the upper side.

"Well, maybe you aren't as hopeless as I thought," said Sakura as she scratched her head, looking at the boy. He had almost perfect chakra control. The only thing wrong was that she could see small footprints in the bark, showing that he used a little too much.

"Wow! Mazy! That was awesome!" chirped the brunette as she pumped her fits into the air, laughing happily.

"Stop calling me that!" said Masakazu as he somewhat rolled his eyes and looked down at his teacher.

"I'm impressed! If you work a little more, you'll probably be able to go up the trunk without having tiny footprints left," said Sakura as she trailed off and started in a different direction.

"Sensei!" shouted Midori as she ran after the pink haired woman, who merely rolled her eyes and turned around.

"Hum?"

"Is there a trick you can tell us or something…you know to help us out?" asked Midori as she gazed at her teacher.

"Nope, I can't help you" Smiled Sakura as she walked back to her post in the ground and sat down with her back to it.

"…" The girl stayed silent before she started to run towards the tree with her Kunai out and attempt to climb it, only falling slightly and hitting her head on the tree.

"You're pathetic," said Yukio as he walked over to her.

"You're no better!"

"Am so!"

"Not!"

"So!"

"NOT!"

"SO, SO, SO, SO, SO…INFINITY!" Yelled the girl as she got up and glared at the boy.

Sakura could only role her eyes at the two. They were worse then Naruto and Sasuke. At least they actually tried to get along with each other…well at times. As she sat there, she pulled out some scrolls to read. It was a simple mission they had; go to earth village and escort the Tsuchikage's head priest home safely. It would be fairy simple; all she needed was her students to try to work together. So as she sat there she noticed Midori slowly walk over to the tree in which Masakazu was currently in and stare at him till he came down to see what she wanted. She noted right away that she was asking him a question; he seemed to look surprised, but started to talk back. They stayed like that for a good 10 minutes. Sakura smiled knowing what the two where talking about.  
As time passed, the sun was starting to set and the children looked at Sakura. They'd been there since seven that morning and had very few breaks, let alone anything to eat.

"Sensei, can we go home?" asked Midori as she fell back down to the ground from the middle of the tree.

"Nope, well I guess you could…but you still haven't made it to the top. I want you to train until you can," said Sakura as she stood there.

"Sensei…don't you think that's stupid to train all night and wear our selves down. Like what if an enemy ninja attacks the village tonight? We wouldn't be able to help out at all," said Yukio, obviously trying to weasel out of training and go home and sleep.

"I don't know, I wonder what Naruto and Sasuke would think," said Sakura, her voice slightly trailing off as she thought about the two boys who had pushed them selves to the limit to get that right.

"Sasuke and Naruto? Sensei what on earth are you talking about?" asked Masakazu.

"Uh…wha? Did I say something like that?" Asked Sakura who looked flustered to think what she just said.

"You said, I wonder what Naruto and Sasuke would think," said Midori as she walked over to her teacher along with the two trailing behind glaring at one another.

"Uh…oh I was just thinking about the past when I was 12" Smiled Sakura as she looked at the three.

"You might as well tell us because were not going any where till ya do" Said Yukio as he looked sternly at her.

"…uh…man, you should really be training but ok. There was a time in which Naruto and Sasuke didn't like each other much. However, you know they did. They pushed themselves every day. They trained with one another until we gradually left Kakashi-sensei to go and train with other people. The day we learned chakra control like you are now, they spent a whole day or more working on it. It wasn't a pretty sight. Even when eating they were in a completion."

"So, Naruto and Sasuke were best friends, even when they hated one another?" asked Midori.

"I guess you could say that." Said Sakura as she placed her finger on her chin and tapped it.  
"Sensei…did you like Sasuke Uchiha when you were younger?" questioned Midori as she watched her sensei's face suddenly flush beet red.

"Hn, no surprise there. They're always hanging around. It wouldn't surprise me if they were screwing," said Yukio, giving a smug look as he looked at his teacher.

"No…there's nothing between Sasuke and I. He has one person on his mind. And that one person only…no one else, not even Naruto…" said Sakura as she held her arm and looked away and to the ground, her face hidden behind her bangs.

"Sensei…" started Midori.

"I want you three to keep training until its perfect," said Sakura as she started to walk away.

"Way to go you idiot…Now even Mazy has to stay here too… " Said Midori. as she watched her sensei slowly leave the grounds and head to some unknown place in town.

"Hey! How was I to know she liked him? And she didn't need to take it so hard."

"You still have to remember, you idiot, she's not very old herself. Think about it. She's probably gone through a lot. More then anyone our age. I've heard stories of their generation. It was the hardest they'd really ever had…and you go making it worse…"

"I told you, **not-my-fault**!" said Yukio as he left to his tree with his hands behind his head, with Masakazu following.

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Sakura didn't know where she was going. She wasn't too sure whether or not she should have just left them standing there. Sure Kakashi Sensei left them alone a lot at night to train, but…she was starting to regret doing so. She never really believed that children should be pushed and worked to exhaustion, but right now she just wanted them to leave her alone, she knew that sounded horrible for even her but right now…what Yukio said affected her in such a way. As she though about it more, she actually started to think about how she felt about Sasuke, it was true she used to love him when she was only 12 but she grew up now. She thought she had grown out of that childhood crush, but it seemed to hit her like a brick wall when she dawned on the fact that she still actually liked Sasuke. But then she knew better, Sasuke Uchiha would never like her in return, he made that very clear when he left. As for now, she should just move on and try to forget about the Uchiha.

Sakura then headed further down the dirt roads till she noticed Neji and Ten-Ten laughing and smiling…well it was more Ten-Ten then Neji, he even in age still showed no emotion towards people. As she walked past, Ten-Ten seemed to give her a smile and an overly enthusiastic wave. Sakura just smiled and kept heading in a random direction. Up ahead she noticed a tall man dressed in a weird green suit yelling something about the greatness of youth and what not. She knew right away who it was, there stood Lee standing in front of 3 of his students and pointing out how Tai-jutsu is just as good as anything else. She had to smile at Lee he was one of the most positive thinkers she knew besides Naruto.  
As Sakura made her way over, one of his students, named Calli, looked at her for the longest time before Lee had to turn around and watch as she walked over to him. He gave a smile and started to turn red when the boy named Calli, a long, black-haired boy, pushed his teacher forward to Sakura. While Sakura looked confused at what the kid was doing before he ran off with the other two in hand and hid behind a building. Sakura then turned her attention to Lee, who wasn't quite looking at her, but then grabbed her hand and looked her straight in the eye until he heaved in a great breath of air.

"Sakura…will you go out with me!" Asked Lee all in one breath as his now deep red face looked away towards some spot on a building.

"Uh…..Sure" Said Sakura. '_If this is a way to get over Sasuke I will do anything. And anyways, how bad could it be? I mean, Lee has always liked me, he's even openly admitted it. So I should give him a chance.' _thought Sakura as she gave Lee a smile. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"Great!" Said Lee as he instantly turned around and gave his students a thumb up. All Sakura could do was give a sweat-drop as she looked at the man, and smile. He was happy, and she was glad.

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When Sakura awoke, her gaze was blurry. She lay on her stomach looking at the window in front of her. Her arm was slung over the side of the bed, only millimeters from the ground. She gazed silently as the rain splashed on the window. She smiled to her self as she looked out the window. She had told them to take the day off. They'd been training for the last three weeks to get ready for the chuunin exams, which would be held in only four days.

It had been five weeks since Lee asked her to go out with him. They'd gone on a few dates, but nothing big. He seemed to be nervous around her and that always seem to make her smile. She stared blankly at a spot on the wall until she averted her gaze to the desk next to the window. It was a complete mess; scrolls were scattered everywhere. She had been reading the details of their last missions to come up with some improvements for their training, to help them work on the stuff in which they seemed to fail.

Then she looked from the piles of paper to four pictures that hung on her wall to one that was on her desk. She looked at them from right to left, The first that hung on her wall was of her and her parents, then Naruto, her, Sai, and Kakashi. The next one was of Kakashi, Sasuke, her and Naruto, after it was of her and her three students, then lastly the one that stood on her desk on top of one of the shelves was of Naruto and the fourth. It was odd to look at it. It was of him when he was 17 years old, before he had gone off to look for Sasuke. They were standing next to each other, smiling like idiots at the camera. She gave a low sigh and looked at the head protector wrapped around the top corner of it. She rolled onto her back and onto her left side, as to try to fall back asleep. She pulled her blankets up further and further until you could only see her head. As she lay there she got to thinking of her child hood, and then of Naruto's and Sasuke's. She actually realized how unfair their childhoods were. Naruto had had it the worst of all three. It's true that Sasuke's clan was killed, but Naruto had no one from the start, not to mention the village hated him. Even worse, he had the nine tails sealed within his body. Now he was on his own in the huge world, wandering from town to town for an answer she knew he'd probably never get. She then gave a low frustrated sigh, threw off her sheets, swung her legs over the side of her bed, and glared at the floor.

She was never a morning person. She was just glad she didn't have to go and do anything important today. But knowing the Hokage, she'd have her on hospital duty. Sakura gave another sigh as she walked on the cold floor to her bathroom to get ready for the day.

Two hours later, she was dressed and ready for the day. Too bad the day wasn't quite ready for her. The rain was coming down harder then ever, and now and she swore she heard thunder at one point. As she sat at her desk and looked out the window, her eyes drifted around her room. She would have watched T.V but un-luckily for her the power had gone out, so there she sat at 12 in the after noon completely bored and without power, or a way to make food for that matter. The only thing she thought that she could possibly do was to go and wander down to one of the open stores. _'But then again...'_ She looked outside and glared. She'd either sit there and wait until the power turned on, or not eat anything that involved cooking. As Sakura looked around, she realized how neat and orderly it was…well, besides her desk that was covered in an insane amount of scrolls. She decided that she'd clean it up. Sakura pulled out a large box from the shelf above and started to put markers in them to indicate where to start again. She then slowly pilled the 20 or more scrolls into the rather large dark green wooden box. As she placed it on the shelves that were built into the large desk she started to look at the picture of Naruto and the forth. She never actually knew why she had it. It was just something she'd found on her camera and decided to frame it in memory of the fourth and Naruto. Even though Naruto wasn't dead, it didn't help much because it sure seemed like it. As Sakura looked closer at the picture, she started to realize how much the two actually looked alike. She hadn't really seen them standing together, well, for a long enough time to actually get a good look at them, anyway. They were normally running around everywhere.

'_My god, they do look a lot alike! I mean, gosh, they have the same blonde hair, almost the same cut, almost identical height… Their eyes are differently shaped, but same blue, same nose and stupid smile, same chin, same build… Wait, that's too great to be a coincidence, isn't it? Naruto did once tell me the fourth didn't speak much of his father, but if I were to look at it, the fourth would be a perfect outline for Naruto's father. I mean some one has to know, Kakashi Sensei defiantly won't tell me a thing…I need someone who is smart, good at problem solving…Kakashi sensei would be the best….who else could I…' _That's when it hit the pink haired girl. Why didn't she think of it earlier? It was so simple! He would know right away. She was such an idiot for not think of it earlier. Sakura then quickly moved away from the picture, pulled on a coat, pulled out an umbrella, and quickly got out of her small apartment.

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_Elsewhere

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_Two figures slowly walked down a back road of god only knows where, one with blood red eyes while another had an oddly colored orange mask, they walked next to each other, both alert and both focused. They had been following the **'fox brat,' **as Itachi seemingly called him, for more than a year now and had gotten nowhere. They didn't even know if the man everybody had been seeing was actually the blonde kid and not a shadow clone wandering around. They had heard he was out of the village for some 'mission' as they found out from a traveling ninja who had seen and heard the conversation between Sakura and Naruto the day he had left. The leader was getting frustrated at the two who had being tracking the blonde-haired person for not retrieving or even seeing him. Tobi walked silently looking all around amused by a few passer-by's who walked as far as they could get from the two cloaked men. Even enemy ninjas seemed to avoid them at all costs. They slowly made there was to a small town, there the first store on there path was a Ramen stand. So they entered, knowing that the 'fox brat' had a odd, weirdly love for Ramen, and so far had been to one in every village. 

"I was wondering something, for a long time" Said Tobi instantly not using his third person talking he had grown fond of in the past few months. Itachi stayed silent and pulled a torn photo out from under his cloak to the woman at the cash. And asked the same question he always asked, while Tobi continued to talk.

"Why did that Kyuubi kid leave for such a long mission in the first place? What's the point of tracking him? He already took out one of us, who says he can't take out another? And you with your eye sight slowly fading …"

"…"Itachi gave him the worst death glare of all.

"Sorry, haven't seen him" Smiled the woman as she glanced at the picture once. Oddly fast.

"I mean, what happens if the Sannin is with the Kyuubi boy? What are we goin' to do then? You thought about that?" asked Tobi as he looked around.

"Kyuubi!" stated the woman as she looked at the two men in front of her. "You mean that man that we here only an hour ago was the holder of the Kyuubi! My god! I'm amazed I'm still alive! I have to alert the elder that the enemy is here! Let alone their greatest weapon!" Screeched the woman as she turned to them and then was about to leave before Tobi grabbed her. She looked into the small dot on his face and instantly froze and fell to the ground.

Itachi gazed at the elder man in front of him. He had never seen him use such a technique before, let alone do anything. He'd never liked him either. No one knew anything about him except for the leader, and that was about it. All he had known was that there was something about this man he didn't trust.  
As Itachi looked over the taller and elder man, all Tobi could do was bend down to make sure she was alright and look around glad no one was in the stand. He looked to Itachi and felt a stern look through the hole; it was as if it was sending some sort of glare beam towards the Uchiha. This just gave another reason to not trust this man.

"Well, he's here. Let's go and bring the Kyuubi boy to leader, to make him happy," said Tobi in his odd way of happiness.

"…"Itachi just looked at the man and followed him out, not ever wanting his guard to be let down.

"I was thinking…why does the leader want the nine tails now? It's your job to get him, so why am I here?" Said Tobi instantly as he spun around and seemingly looked at the man.

"We need all the tailed beasts, and you're back-up,"

"…But we've only gotten six so far…wouldn't extracting the nine tails now ruin the balance?"

"…If he take him now when he's alone it will be easier. Then, we don't have to worry about village hidden in the leaves coming to back up their comrade."

"I was thinking, how will I know what the nine tails looks like? All you told me was that he had blonde hair. We've seen exactly 23 blondes in this village alone!"

"He'll be the first one yelling at some-" And is if right on queue…

"What the hell do you mean I can't buy this here?!" Yelled a manly voice from off in the small store only 20 feet away from the two men, they both looked mildly surprised at there luck.

"That him?" As Tobi said that, a few people had stopped to stare at the small shop as a blonde haired man forced his way out. Just as he looked up, he wished he hadn't gotten up this morning. There before him was a pair of red eyes, he needed no more time to think, and instantly ran off. Remembering the words of the elder sister from sand, _'When fighting an Uchiha, if one against one, run away.' Well, maybe not the exact words, but that's all Naruto could remember at that point._

The two men watched him run, then realized that he was actually was the fox boy. They quickly recovered from their shock and started to run at full speed. The blonde ran hard and fast, jumping from roof to roof. Just because he didn't have chakra didn't mean he still couldn't do that, it just made it easier to fall.

"I thought you said he never runs away from a battle?" Tobi smirked.

"He doesn't, he's the first one to charge into one" Said Itachi confused, you could tell it but his voice but his face would always seemingly hide it.

"He got smarter then" Laughed Tobi as they ran faster then instantly stopped. The blonde was caught in a dead end. The only things around were a few scraps of iron and a metal rod. He looked lost.

"Why did I go this way?" Said the freaked out blonde as he looked left to right, then front to back…that was his down fall because behind him there stood the two raven haired men.

"So this is the nine tails fox? I expected something a little more from the strongest of the tailed beasts. Look at him; he looks worse then your old partner. Look at that unkempt hair…" said Tobi, over dramatizing.

Naruto looked around, and grinned upon seeing an opening. It wasn't a large one but maybe it'd work. He waited, and then instantly started to charge his way towards the two men, eyes firmly on the ground. Then his foot hit something, all that was heard was metal scraping off dirt, and then on wood. Everything went dark.

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**Important Notice!

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****Hey you guy's sorry this was so bloody late. You know school work and all, Hahaha I may have to get another Beta though. Because mine is having a hard time coping with this story as well, because of all the school work, social life ect…, Anyways I want to that Moogle a lot for helping out with this chapter. She kind of rushed it but I much appetite that. I just wanted to post it to you, its been over two weeks and I am sorry. The fourth chapter will be my last chapter I believe till I finish school on the 22nd of June. But I need these next few weeks to study, for my 4-5 final exams. Sorry for the incontinences.**

**Canadain-Girl**


	4. Scroll

**Chapter Four: Scroll**

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'_The meaning of being born…for humans to find the answer…it is the one freedom god gave them.'_

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Sakura sat in the high bleachers of the arena waiting for the third part of the chuunin exam to begin. Only one of her students had made it to the third and final part of the exam. Yukio, it scared her that he made it, she knew what that kid could do. From what she heard a month ago from Masakazu, that Yuki had gone a bit off during the exam. That only brought her back to thinking of Sasuke; he'd gone from what he heard the same way. Once she heard that she'd gone to his home right away, in fear.

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****Flashback****

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**

Sakura ran as fast as she possibly humanly could towards Yukio's home in the far end of Konoha near the Uchiha district. She'd been running now for a good five minutes, fear taking hold of her. She heard the snake was dead, but something deep down scared her. She heard that a man confronted them and said something to the blonde, and then knocked him out. After that, he wasn't the same. She hadn't realized how close she'd been to the Uchiha district, so she continued to run. She knew that Sasuke hated people around there, and once almost killed a stray dog for coming to close to it. She never knew what happened to the animal and frankly, she didn't want to know. So as she continued to run to the blondes home she was suddenly cough off guard she hadn't noticed another person behind her, she hadn't even felt another presence till it was to late. She was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown against the back of a tree, she winced in pain and cursing under her breathe for letting her guard down even in Konoha when there where enemy ninja still hanging around. She didn't dare open her eyes. She just waited until a harsh, yet comforting voice woke her back up.

"Sakura?" asked a certain Uchiha. As Sakura opened her eyes, she was staring into the cold black eyes of none other than Uchiha Sasuke. His body was pressing against hers with a kunai at her neck ready to kill at any moment. She looked shocked at the man before her and red started to fill her cheeks. But this time, it wasn't with rage.

"Sasuke…" Said Sakura sounding equally confused in the predicament that they were in, instantly realizing what position they were in he quickly moved away and looked in the other direction. You could tell he was mad at himself for attacking her, but there was some other emotion in his eyes that she could not decipher.

"What the hell are you doing here?" snapped Sasuke as he looked at her with an intense glare.

"What the hell are you talking about…" said Sakura as she realized for the first time she was no longer out side the Uchiha district she was now inside it. "Oh my god. Sasuke, I…" Sakura stuttered as she looked around, only to see old walls stained with dried blood.

"Get out!" Sasuke shouted, rather rudely.

"I, I swear I didn't mean to come in here…I was on my way to-"

"I said, get OUT!" Sasuke yelled. When he went to make a slight move towards her to scare her away, a blonde jumped down in front of him, only measuring a little more then half his height.

"Leave Sakura-sensei alone!" shouted Yukio as he held four scrolls between each finger and glared at the Uchiha with eyes that could kill.

"Y-Yukio…what are you…?"

"I heard you scream from my house," he said bluntly as the man and boy glared each other down into the ground.

Sakura looked at the two she was still flat against the wall with the boy in front of her and the man she once liked only feet away. She was lost. She didn't know what to do or how to react, that was until she noticed what scrolls exactly he was holding. Her breath was cut short as she looked at the four black and white scrolls that he held. Sasuke noticed her shiver and look wide-eyed at the things. He had seen her scared before, but this was something he'd never seen in his years knowing her. Whatever the boy held, Sasuke knew Sakura was scared of it, and if she was scared of this brat then he knew that it must be something horrid. Just as Sasuke was going to make a move to stop the blonde brat, he saw Sakura give a low sigh while looking at the blonde.

"Yukio, turn around" Said Sakura. The boy only glared at the ground and did as he was told, moving his forehead into her line of view. She gave a since flick of her fingers and the boy was sent more then 20 feet away from her and knocked unconscious. Sasuke's eyes were wide; he'd never seen her do such a thing. He forgot she had a lot of power now, but to think a single flick could cause the boy to go that far, how much chakra had she had in those two fingers.

"….." Sasuke stayed silent as the pink haired ninja walked over towards the boy and looked around his neck and chest for something, which she obviously couldn't find, then smiled as she fell on her butt next to him and hung her head low. Her breathing was hard and harsh. She used up a little too much chakra; and it didn't help that she didn't have much left after training that morning. Sasuke silently walked over to her to see her smiling and breathing hard.

Sakura noticed Sasuke picking up one of the scrolls. Just as he was going to open it, Sakura lunged at him and they both fell on the ground, with her still panting and holding the scroll that was in his hands. She was shaking all over.

"Don't, please, don't ever open this. I don't want to lose you, too," Sakura muttered as she collapsed on top of the Uchiha. Sasuke was now holding her and sitting up, while the boy lay only a mere ten feet away from them. He looked to the pink haired ninja as she held the small scroll in her hand. If anyone were to see this scene, only bad things would come to the poor Uchiha. He lifted the woman up and looked lost in what to do; he couldn't just leave her there, and he couldn't just leave the boy there, too. Even though he wanted to leave the brat lying where he was to. He used a technique that sort of resembled the fourth's body flicker, brought her home, left her in his bedroom, and then went back for the kid.

Sakura awoke hours later she was laying in someone else's room, she could tell that right away. She knew it wasn't Lee's. His room was bright, while this one was dark. There on the couch across from her was Yuki, still unconscious. She then quickly got up and walked over to him to make sure he was ok. She knelt down to his level and looked him in the eyes. She ran her hand over his forehead and sighed with relief. That's when she realized where she was again. She quickly stood up and looked around the large room, and noticed well more heard as the rain came down. She saw the door opened slightly, and silently walked over to it. She peered out to see the back of a raven-haired man and the Uchiha crest. Her heart nearly skipped a few dozen beats when she realized she had been in his bed. After the little heart attack she had going on she took a deep breath and went out side to where he was located. Sat watching the rain.

As she came up from behind, he narrowed his eyes until he realized it was Sakura and not the brat, and then watched her as she sat down beside him. They stayed silent for over fifteen minutes until she finally spoke.

"Thank you, for… you know."

"…" He stayed silent and looked out into the large yard. She silently looked around the long outdoor walkway. She'd never been to his home before, and she really liked it.

"What were you looking for before?" he queried, causing her to look away from the house, to him, and then to the ground.

"…" He stayed silent, but his gaze was questioning.

"…The other two told me he started to act weird after they came out from the forest. Saying a man went up to him and said things to him, and then he changed. I was scared to death that it might be…"

"Orochimaru."

"Yeah, since he does kind of remind me of you."

"We're nothing alike."

"No? He's just like you, Sasuke. Every single bit. 'Cept the hair."

"…" He simply gave her a nasty look.

"Think about it. He has your glare, personality, can use fire style jutsu. He's a copy of your personality."

"…" He stayed silent.

"I hope the rain clears up soon. I don't want to have to walk home in this," Sakura said as she pulled her leg up and placed her chin on top of it.

"How long?"

"What?"

"You and Lee," said Sasuke as he looked more deeply into the rain.

"I don't know, .a month now? Maybe two."

"I thought you didn't like him."

"People change, Sasuke. You should know that more than anyone," said Sakura, her voice trailing off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he shot back as he looked at her.

"What do you mean 'what do you mean by that?' Sasuke, you should know better than anyone when you went to go-"

"Sensei, my head hurts," said Yukio as he came out of the room, looking like he just woke up and stuffing the scrolls in his pocket. As the boy looked up, he saw Sakura and Sasuke glaring at one another.

"Does it? Let me take a look," she said with a smile as she got up, walked over to him and placed a hand on his forehead. "You're burning up. Come on, I'll take you to my place. Go wait in in the front, but stay under the shelter," said Sakura as the boy nodded and started to walk to the front.

"Why not take him home, where he belongs?"

"There would be no point. No one is there waiting for him," said Sakura as she bowed her head and walked the same path that her student took.

"Thank you again, Sasuke," she said as she walked back.

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****End of Flashback****

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**

Sakura sat next to Shikamaru, whose arms were spread out behind hers and Temari's, who was only there because the Kazekage had been there. The reason he was there was because four people from the sand had made it to the finals. The Raikage was there as well, along with the Mizukage. The Hokage, on the other hand, was smiling to herself as she sat between the Kazekage and the Mizukage. The only reason for that was because there were two people standing alongside the Kazekage, which made her smile. There on his left was his elder brother, and then on his right was a female with long sea greenish hair, whom was wearing a black dress that was sleeveless, and that ended to her mid thigh. She wore her head protector of sand around her waist and long black gloves with no fingers that reached her elbows. And a long piece of metal on both arms that had a leaf symbol on one and a sand symbol on the other, netting that came out but a little ways from under her skirt, and coming up from the V-shape cut in her dress that surprisingly showed cleavage. Her face held a smile as she looked around, and she was the only one smiling besides the Hokage.

The matches began; Sakura looked around and noticed Shino, Hinata, Choji, Ino, Kiba with his arm wrapped around some female she didn't recognize, and Akamaru sitting next to her trying to lick her face every two seconds. In that order. She gave a smile then looked over to where Temari was sitting. Alongside her was Ten-Ten and Neji. She was quite amazed that everyone from the old rookie nine was sitting together…well except Naruto. Her other two students where sitting in the front so they could be as close as they could to see the battles. The only people from the rookie nine who hadn't been there was Lee, but he was gone on a mission. Then the battles started. The first battle was between a ninja from mist and a ninja from leaf. She hadn't recognized the one from leaf at all. As she sat there watching the outcome, she didn't notice a body sit beside her until the match was over when she heard someone mumble "Hn" right next to her ear. As Sakura looked over her eyes widened. Shikamaru was probably the only one to notice the presence.

"Sasuke, I'm surprised to see you here. With you being an ANBU and all, I thought the Hokage would have you on guard duty," Shikamaru said lazily as Temari looked at Sasuke, seeing him for the first time since he was 12.

"That's the Uchiha snob?" Temari asked a little too loudly as she leaned across her boyfriend to look at the Uchiha, who was looking at her oddly.

"Why is she here…" Sasuke asked as he looked to her, then Shikamaru, who was watching the clouds as she lay across him, then to Sakura.

"She is here because her brother is here. Gaara is the Kazekage, and she's sitting with us because she and Shikamaru are dating," said Sakura matter-of-factly as another battle began, this time between two leaf ninjas.

"You two are dating…?" Sasuke mumbled, showing emotion for once. Too bad it was of disgust.

"Yeah, since we were, like, 16," said Temari as she got up and sat back in the bleachers.

"…" Shikamaru continued to gaze at the clouds until a thought struck him.

"Sakura, what did you want to talk with me about the other day? Dad told me you came over. I left ten minutes before you came."

"The other…Shikamaru! That was last month!" said Sakura looking at him incredulously.

"Troublesome. So what was it?"

"It was about Naruto and the fourth," said Sakura as stuffed her hand in a pocket and pulled out a small photo. Shikamaru took it from her and looked it over.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you were going to come talk to me about this," Shikamaru stated, now getting the attention of Temari, Sakura and Sasuke.

"So, you've been thinking about it, too?"

"No."

"…" Sakura hung her head low.

"But I knew you might," he replied, returning the photo.

"You knew I might?" Sakura asked as she looked to Shikamaru while Sasuke gazed at the photo she held.

"I'm not dumb Sakura. I know what people are thinking half the time. I've seen you looking at that before," Said Shikamaru now looking at the battle. "The red heads going to loose in about 10 minutes so we still got sometime to talk before its over" Said Shikamaru looking back to the clouds.

"You're not one to judge a battle so quickly…"

"That kid's a show off. He won't last. Anyways what was it exactly you wanted to talk about?"

"I thought you might know something. Or at least tell me what you think. None of the adults will tell me anything about the fourth, not even about his background…"

"…" Shikamaru stayed silent, placed his fingertips together and closed his eyes. Sasuke had seen this only once before but never knew why the Nara boy did it.

"What is he doing?"

"He's thinking. That's how Shikamaru comes up with all his plans. He's leaf's greatest stagiest. You already know his IQ is over 200," Whispered Sakura as she watched.

"…" Sasuke stayed silent. He, in fact, hadn't known that the boy's IQ was over 200. And frankly, it scared him. Not that he'd let it show.

Then in an instant his eyes opened, his arms went behind the two girls again and looked up at the clouds.

"…well" said Sakura.

"I can't tell you a thing. Their appearance seems to be exactly alike, to the point where it's not just a coincidence. The only way you're going to get the information you need is to go to his family tree, and I don't even know where that is. The most likely place would be in his house, and the only person with the key and the knowledge to know where the files would be located would be the fourth himself or Naruto, and its unlikely that he'd even tell you. Since he's not here to tell" added Shikamaru as he narrowed his eyes a bit and looked at Sasuke.

"He probably doesn't know," muttered Sasuke as he watched the kid that Shikamaru said would lose, actually lose.

"It's Yukio's turn," said Sakura, sounding hollow.

"Hmm, hey it is that brat…" said Temari, remembering the way he challenged her for no reason.

"…" Sakura stayed silent, eyes glued to the fight; it was almost time to begin.

"Sakura, is he one to take lightly? I heard about his battle skills, but not about exactly what he can do," said Shikamaru as he studied the girl.

"Yukio isn't a person I would want to be alone with if I were the enemy. Even though I can easily take him down…he's not one to take to lightly…"

"What do you mean?"

"He's a genius."

"Genius, you say. He didn't sound so smart when I fought him," laughed Temari.

"Not that kind. A genius as in the art of killing the person's mind,"

"Killing one's mind?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, Yukio…what he can do is scary. He tortures his victims, slowly making them lose their mind. Then he kills them, quite slowly and very painfully. Or, when he's in a bad mood, he'll finish it quick," said Midori as she appeared behind the adults, her head resting on Sakura's shoulder.

"Midori, when…?" asked a half-frightened Sakura.

"Look. He's going to use…it."

All the adults turned their gazes to Sakura, whose skin had gone pale and her eyes wide as she watched the young man fight.

**

* * *

**

"You're an idiot aren't you, you stupid leaf Shinobi! All of you are weak! And look at that hairstyle; it's so weird! And that blonde looks so fake!" laughed a sand Shinobi, who looked to be about 4 years older then Yukio. The blonde just stood his ground. The boy before him was holding an oddly shaped sword, and from what Yuki could tell, it controlled the moisture in the air, thus creating water.

"Is that so? I thought sand and leaf were allies. It's no good to have someone who doesn't believe in that treaty living, now is it? It just creates problems we'll have to clean up, and I hate cleaning up something that can be avoided, don't you?" Yukio spat with a look that could have killed the elder boy where he stood.

"There's no such thing as an allies in a fight!"

"True, but I don't think your sibling would like to hear that now would they?"

"How...how do you know about Jashuto!?"

"I know everything about him, because I know what you did. It's your fault that he died."

"I, I didn't do that! SHUT UP!" yelled the other boy as he charged towards the blonde. He slammed the end of his sword into the ground, causing it to explode.

"Yes you did. You killed him. It may have not been intentional, but you did. Remember all that blood? And-"

"SHUT UP! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" yelled the elder with another attack, this time nearly causing the blonde to lose his arm. A psychotic look spread across Yukio's face.

"Yes it was. Remember? You were in sound when it happened."

"…HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!?"

"I was there, I saw you do it."

"I DIDN'T DO A THING!"

"Exactly. Because of your fear, your father has to go living everyday without his eldest and most promising son," sneered Yuki as he watched the elder boy start to go insane and throw most, if not all is weapons towards him.

**

* * *

**

"What is he doing?" asked Temari as she leaned forward, watching the two boys dodge each other's attacks.

"He's getting the other one mad, to what point? Waste all his weapons and chakra until he has nothing left? Did your kid even take into account what techniques the other one knows?" Shikamaru asked as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, watching closely.

"No, Yuki just wants the other guy to get disorientated he likes to fight people when their like that, he's weird that way...oops. Hey, Sakura-sensei, look! He's pulling out his scrolls. Now things are going to end soon. They always do after this." Midori smiled as she watched closely from behind the adults.

"He's an idiot for even creating such a thing; his whole family was stupid for creating it," said the orange haired lad sitting next to his female companion

**

* * *

**

"What happened!?" a raven-haired man shouted as he placed his mask back onto his face. He quickly looked around, only to see Itachi standing behind him, gazing at the wall.

**

* * *

****Flashback****

* * *

**

Naruto had kicked the metal rod with his foot so it went flying right into his hand as he had hopped. Then, with all his might, he ran towards Itachi and, at the last minute, switched directions and pushed the metal rod into the eye socket of the masked man. As he thought, the man grabbed the pole and threw it at the wall. When the man seemed to look straight to where the blonde had been, his mask was kicked off his face by the blonde-haired man and thrown in Itachi's direction.

Naruto's eyes had grown wide at the sight of the man, he gazed at him for a mere few moments upon his scared up face to see his right eye being covered. Then as quickly as he had grabbed the rod moment before, he jumped upon it, causing it to bend slightly and throw him up in the air, just enough to get him back onto the rooftops. He threw a dozen exploding tags down to the men and ran off, with an explosion following soon after.

**

* * *

****End Flashback

* * *

**

"That brat! How could you let him get away!?" Tobi shouted as he jumped up from the ground, only to realize that the whole right side of his cloak had been torn away, revealing his metal body. Itachi looked at him curiously, his suspicion growing.

"I was busy saving you. I could have just left you to die," said Itachi, remembering for a brief moment he was sure he had seen red in his right eye.

"…" Tobi stayed silent as he looked around the trashed street for something to cover his side in.

**

* * *

**

The blonde was now far away from the village as humanly possible. His body involuntarily collapsed against the first tree he stopped by. His heart was pounding like crazy. Never in his life had he been as scared as that. Him totally defenseless against two psychotic men and yet managing to escape, now that was something to tell his grandkids, if he could get himself to live that long, anyway. As his back hit the tree and his butt hit the ground, he sat there looking out into the sky, not believing that he had survived again.

"That was way too close. I have to keep myself hidden better," said the blonde to no one in particular, but unknown to him, someone had heard him, and someone was watching.

**

* * *

**

Hey, I didn't get barely any reviews….that's really depressing you know. I think I may have lost readers….that's even more depressing. Well I want you guys to please review so I know that you all still love me and my story….Hahaha

Special thanks to the two people that helped me out in this story!! You two rock!


	5. Glass

**Chapter 5: Glass**

* * *

A scroll had been thrown towards the opposing boy from sand. He looked at it oddly, then transferred his gaze to Yukio who looked startled, as if he didn't mean to throw the thing. The other boy have a gallant laugh as he picked up the scroll and tossed it up into the air over and over and over again. Yukio stayed silent; his face was full of shock, but secretly he was laughing inside at what the elder lad had been doing.

"Lost yer scroll, you stupid nit wit! Serves you right! I know what's in here. I saw you use all those weapons before. This one carries them, don't it? And with my luck, I'll use your precious scroll against you!" laughed the elder as he threw the scroll into the air.

He used a chakra thread to slice the seal off and then opened it, only to be at his demise. Because at that very moment, Yukio started to laugh like a mad man as he threw over the other two scrolls and used various hand signs to open them up. Once the three were open, a light started to flash and rocks started to cover the elder boy instantly. Once he was completely covered, he used the other scroll that shot blue flames and engulfed the boy hidden behind the great rock pile. Yukio finished with a fire ball jutsu to make the now white stone hot, and, with the throw in the air of the last scroll, half a dozen weapons appeared from inside and sliced the once polished stone to shreds. It left no sign of a boy, except for the clothes that scattered the ground.

Yukio stood there a moment before turning to the crowd and giving a smirk, and everyone started to cheer at the performance. He looked to his sensei, only to see her looking shocked, then, as soon as she realized that he was looking at her, she gave an acquired smile. The boy smiled back and walked off the grounds.

* * *

"What just happened?" asked Temari as she looked down to the battle ground. "Where the hell did he go?"

"He's dead," said Shikamaru. "That's an interesting technique he has; to be able to use earth element and fire element jutsu together. And, with the right about of heat, turn the soft sand he created at the very last second into glass. Then he quickly heated it up again to make sure his opponent was dead…then threw weapons mercilessly at the glassed over boy, just for fun. Sakura…what is he?" Shikamaru queried as he watched the blonde-haired lad walk away.

"I told you, they're all idiots for creating such a thing," Masakazu muttered as he folded his arms in disgust.

"I had forbid him to use it," responded Sakura.

"He doesn't seem to listen," Sasuke added, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Sounds like someone else I know," Kakashi said as he appeared behind Sakura's two students, both whom gave a yelp at the man's sudden appearance.

"…" Sasuke only glared at the man.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura.

"Kain wanted to see you," Kakashi told her cheerfully as he lifted the three-year-old up to Sakura, who took him and smiled. Kakashi walked over and sat next to Sasuke.

"You're so cute!" Sakura chirped. "And to think, you have a father like him," added Sakura as she smiled at the confused little boy.

"…Sakura…" Kakashi muttered.

"What? It's true, but he's so cute!" said Sakura with a slight squeal as she and Temari, who was now leaning over Shikamaru, played with the small boy who was blushing and laughing.

"You'd make a good mother," said Kakashi with a smile as Sakura blushed. "Isn't that right, .Sasuke?" Kakashi asked under his breath as he jabbed his elbow into Sasuke's rib, only to receive a glare from the Uchiha.

"Did you see the fight?" Shikamaru questioned as he switched places with Sakura to sit beside the other men.

"Yeah," Kakashi answered as his smile faded and he gazed at the blonde down below.

"What do you think? Is he one to be concerned about?" asked Shikamaru.

"I don't know; it's too early to tell. We're going to have to keep a close eye on that one." Kakashi's gaze shifted to the orange-haired boy behind him, who was looking at the silver-haired man oddly.

"And who are you?" asked Kakashi as he smiled at the boy.

"…" He stayed silent.

"…Is your mother, by any chance, Hannah?" asked Kakashi. The boy's eyes widened.

"As I thought. You look a lot like her. Except your hair, you get that from your father. Has he returned home from his mission yet?" asked Kakashi, only receiving a head shake. "Too bad. He always liked to watch the fights. How come you're not fighting?"

"Leg's broken in eight places. I was banned from going on," the orange-haired boy replied as he pointed to his leg, which was in a cast.

"What a shame. You could have still went on."

"I would have…" said the boy as he shot a death glare at the girl beside him.

"Hey! Don't blame me, you jerk! It wasn't just your leg; your whole body was messed up! You're lucky I told Sakura-sensei you had nothing wrong with you! Or else she would have forced you out herself. It's not my fault you and Yukio got paired up in the other battle preliminaries!" Midori snapped, looking away.

"And it wasn't my fault that he used that stupid glass window jutsu on me either."

"Glass window? That's what he called it…why?" Temari questioned.

"Because, right before the glass totally hardens around your body and instantly killing you, you see the world around you for the last time, as if through a window," answered Sakura.

"Naruto would have hated this," mumbled Sasuke.

"…" They all looked at him.

"You mean Mr. Uzumaki?" Midori queried as she leaned over and looked at the raven-haired man.

"Hn. He probably would have kicked the shit out of that boy if he had seen this. For unneeded bloodshed," said Sasuke as he turned his attention to another battle.

"Naruto…" muttered Sakura, wondering where her blonde teammate was.

* * *

"You've been keeping out on us, Lord Hokage. To have a child prodigy on your hands is something else," the Mizukage said, smiling.

"…" She stayed silent as she watched what opened up before her. She knew the kid was the last one in his clan. She was also hoping he would not be able to do that jutsu. She'd seen it done in the great ninja war, and knew its side effects all too well.

"My god, what has that idiot learned?" said Onime, remembering she once babysat the blonde-haired boy, whom once was _'very sweet and kind.'_

Two out of the four Kages looked up towards her. She covered her mouth and looked away, ashamed, remembering that she wasn't supposed to talk. Kankuro noticed something that only he and the Hokage barely caught. Onime's left hand had been hanging freely, and Gaara, who's hand had been close to it grabbed it lightly and looked back to the battle down below. The Hokage gave a slight smile and caught Kankuro rolling his eyes and glaring at the woman.

"Leave him be. She's not all that bad. You never know, she might get him to smile," whispered Tsunade to the man standing next to her. He and the girl had switched places, because the other men were looking at her oddly.

"That's not what I'm worried about," said Kankuro as he looked back to the matches.

"You're worried she'll break his heart?" asked Tsunade as she looked over towards the battle.

"…" No response.

"I think you should stop worrying about him, and pay more attention to your own love life. You have someone you've had your eyes on, no? A certain black-haired female from sand?" The Hokage grinned as Kankuro looked over at her with wide eyes.

"It's a good thing. We wouldn't want all the sand's men taking Konoha's women, now do we? And vice versa," teased Tsunade as she looked down to Shikamaru, who was watching Temari hold the smaller child and bounce him on her knee.

* * *

The battles were over. It was seven in the morning and Sasuke was trudging towards the Hokage tower after being signaled to go there by a rather odd looking slug that appeared on his bare chest. He had taken a long time in the shower that morning, trying to scrub off the horrid filth that he thought the slug had left behind.

Three had become chuunin that year. One from Konoha, Yukio, actually, one from sand, and one from mist. It was the most chuunin that they had had graduate at the same time in a long time. Almost every year it was either one or two, or none at all.

In the Hokage tower, Sasuke walked up the _'millions of stairs,' _as he remember Naruto calling it, when they were forced to walk them all, not just half. As he made it to the top and knocked silently on the Hokage's door, he slowly entered to find her sitting there behind a stack of papers.

"There you are. I need you to go and get the Kazekage right now!" Tsunade ordered as she looked at the Uchiha who gave her an questioning look as if to say, _'Why didn't you get me to do that before I came all the way over here?'_

"Just hurry up, there was an incident last night that involves a leaf genin, a sand genin and a mist genin. Now hurry!"

"…." Sasuke just glared at her, then was handed a slip of paper by Shizune and left without another word to go to where the Kazekage was boarded up.

* * *

Sasuke arrived at the inn where Gaara, the ANBU girl and Kankuro were staying. He later found out that Kankuro was staying in a completely different part of the building. So, as the Uchiha arrived and asked for the room in which the Kazekage was staying in, the woman blushed and pointed him in which direction to go and where it was to be found. Sasuke nodded his head and gave a slight shiver as the woman, who was in her sixties, watched his ass the whole time he walked away.

As he climbed to the second floor he found the room 327, which the lady had told him, and knocked not so silently upon the door and entered, only to find that the first thing he was looking at was a half-naked woman on the king-sized bed. It had been the ANBU he'd seen before, and there she lay with the plain crimson sheets that only covered part of her chest and ended down to her mid thigh. At first he'd thought he'd entered the wrong room and was about to leave before the woman rolled over onto her other side exposing her back to his eyes. There upon her back were faint white scars from a sword, and he knew whose sword it was. As he was about to close the door, he noticed from out of the washroom came a shirtless Kazekage. Sasuke would never admit this openly or even to himself again, but his upper torso was almost as good looking as his.

Gaara glared at the man before him as sand started to surround the bottom of his feet, and then instantly it stopped when Sasuke put up his hand as if to say stop. Gaara looked at the man before him as he stood his ground, he refused to put down his guard even to get his shirt around the Uchiha.

"The Hokage needs to speak to you right away," said Sasuke as he looked at the Kazekage.

"What is it about?" asked Gaara as he looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha was mildly surprised; it wasn't often he ever heard a word out of this man.

"Three genin; one from sand, one from mist and the brat from leaf. There was a problem late last night. That's all I know," said Sasuke truthfully.

"…" He stayed silent.

"I'll be waiting outside," said Sasuke as he closed the door behind him and walked away. Something about being in there bothered. He never thought that a guy like Gaara would ever get laid, but he was proven wrong.

Sasuke had gone outside, and stood atop the building next to the inn, not knowing that he was standing right across from the open window of the Kazekage's room. As he looked around patrolling, he finally noticed his position. He watched off and on as Gaara pulled on his long coat that draped down, and then was about to put on his gourd when the girl propped herself on her elbow and looked at him. He couldn't see her face but watched as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. She gave a smile at him, and surprisingly he didn't turn away and leave, instead he bent down and kissed her forehead, and, from what Sasuke could tell, he was telling her he'd be right back. He watched as Gaara left and the girl then laid back down and covered herself.

Gaara came out ten minutes later and waited for Sasuke to appear beside him. He never liked having a bodyguard; it never suited him at all. But, when he was in a different village, there in fact were laws that had to be kept. So as the two walked down the road in complete silence, Sasuke noticed the Kazekage looking around at something he was sure he wouldn't or couldn't find. Sasuke then turned his gaze back in front of him and spoke.

"Naruto isn't here," said Sasuke keeping his eyes on the lookout.

"…"

"Did he go to sand?"

"Last year he was in our village. For more then a week, I believe."

"Hn."

"Have you heard from him?"

"No, he isn't one to write a letter. He doesn't trust people who send the mail."

"He'll be back."

"You're confident."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"…"

"Naruto isn't one to give up. One day he will find someone to help him, even if he has to go across the sea. Even if he died the day after, I'm sure he'd be happy. You should have more confidence in your friends. It's because of him that I became Kazekage, and stayed Kazekage," said Garaa as he entered the Hokage's room. Sasuke had just realized they had made it to the tower.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he crossed his arms and left.

* * *

As Naruto walked past different people, he started to realize how you could tell the travelers from the ninja. He noted this right away; he had never seemed to notice this before now. In his mind, it was kind of sad. As he walked alone, he picked them out quite easily. The travelers had an assortment of different things hooked to their bags that either made a loud noise or a soft thumping noise. The ninja had nothing on them; if they were running, you wouldn't hear them.

As he looked at the ninja passing him, he noticed that they all seemed to look at him oddly, as if trying to figure something out. Naruto could only smile as a woman with her small child passed him and kept to the far right of him. Sure, if he was a touchy-feely person, he would have taken that the wrong way, as if the woman was scared of him because he had the nine-tails. But that wasn't the case; she noticed that he carried nothing on his bag. He was just silent as he walked around all these other people with bells and charms connected to their bags.

While he continued to walk, he started to think. How long had it really been since he had made contact, or even spoke to the damned fox? Naruto instantly stopped and looked down at his stomach and touched it, as if it would tell him something. People watched his with curious eyes, as they walked by. As the blonde looked down at his stomach, he started to ponder.

'Why the hell hasn't that stupid fox shown up lately? I couldn't have cut off all connections with him, that day, could I?' Naruto wondered as he started to think back to when he was 17, and remembered when he and Sasuke fought. That was the last time he'd spoken to or seen the damned demon.

Naruto sat down, closed his eyes and tried to find any chakra signals. He put his hands together as if to mold some chakra, and after ten minutes, he pulled up his shirt and looked down to his stomach to see, or rather, _not_ see, the seal appearing. The thought scared him; had he really lost all connections with the beast? As he glared down at his stomach, a hand was placed on his shoulder. The blonde turned, his eyes widening as he gazed into the face of the hand's owner.

* * *

_**Canadain-Girl**_

**If you could I could use some help with the next chapter because I am so lame I never started it because I was so lost at what to wrote, and I truly mean it any suggestions would be a major help! Because its gunna be a week late if I don't get any help cause im lame and I cant think of a thing to write any more. **

_**Wow full name this time round' anyways thank you so much Moogle for helping me out with this chapter, and all my reviewers! You're a great help, may not have been all the ones I was looking forward too, but it was a nice few. Anyways, heres the reviewers I was to lazy to send messages to, or couldn't! cause you didn't sign in!!!!**_

__

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	6. Who is it, you love

**Chapter Six: Who is it, you love.**

* * *

_Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission_

* * *

Naruto's face went stone cold as he gazed into the face of his former sensei. It seemed everyone was really out to get him this week. His eyes wandered to what was behind the old man; there stood from what Naruto could tell were two females about his age or just a little bit older. You would never have guessed because due to the excessive make up and the scant amount of clothes they were wearing you'd think they were fifteen. Jiraiya looked to the blonde boy's face in utter amazement. He hadn't expected him to be here, truthfully he hadn't expected to see him at all and he just wanted him to move because that was his woman watching spot as he called it so many times. It was sad that no matter where you were in a country there was always a spot for him to watch women.  
They looked at each other for a good ten minutes until one of the girls from behind spoke. 

"Wow, is he your son?" She dumbly asked, before the two looked at each other then to her, then back to one another.

"…" Both men stared blankly at the dark haired woman.

"I mean you two look so much alike! You obviously have the same hair style…" The two men looked at one another again and Naruto noticed she was right, he never even thought about cutting his hair. Jiraiya had stars in his eyes seeing that his most annoying and most promising student had taken up his hair style unlike the fourth Hokage.

"And your skin tone! Its almost identical…and you two are so tall-well, the blonde is shorter but still tall!" The two girls then squealed as they looked at the two men who stared blankly at one another. Naruto then slowly got up, and dusted off his pants and stood next to the old pervert and pointed a finger at his face and then at Jiraiya's and said.

"You think that this old pervert is my dad…?" Asked Naruto, looking at the two women with a deadpan stare. They both held great smiles and nodded.

"Naruto…can I speak to you alone?" Jiraiya asked "Sorry ladies, but could you stay here for a few minutes. I need to speak to _my son_" He smiled as he put his arm around the boy's shoulder and dragged him away. The two walked off to where Jiraiya knew they were out of sight and hearing distance before letting go of the younger man and looking around just to discover that they were by a river, luckily, no women were present.

"So I'm your son now?" Questioned Naruto as he folded his arms and looked at the man before him.

"Now is not the time to question the fact that I am not your father. _What_ were you doing just a few minutes ago?"

"Huh?" The blonde man was lost.

"Can you use chakra now?" Asked Jiraiya, in a condescending tone.

"No."

The Sannin's face went blank. If he wasn't able to use chakra then why was he trying to mold it? Seeing the elder man's completely lost face, Naruto gave a sigh.

"I was trying to see if that damned fox was still there."

"…" The 58 year old man looked completely lost.

Naruto glared.

"You haven't been able to, hmm…?" Started the man before he got lost and mixed up in words he was trying to say.

"No, I haven't been able to get a hold of that damned fox in the last three years." said Naruto matter-of-fact as he gazed at the elder man.

"Hmm…" Muttered the elder as he tapped his chin and closed his eyes trying to think of something. While Naruto just realized he had the same hair do as the old pervert and was currently trying to find something sharp to cut it with.

"Have you crossed the ocean?" Said Jiraiya, as he opened his eyes to look at the blonde who was currently pulling on his hair, and then stopped and looked at the man.

"Cross the ocean?"

"I've heard of a man, who's even more brilliant then Tsunade and Sakura combined. I'm positive if you look around a bit; you'll be able to get that little problem of yours fixed…or some what fixed…" Said Jiraiya, as he looked at the boy whose eyes widened.

"…"

"If you take a boat from Lightning country and sail it east, you'll stumble upon an uncharted land by us shinobi. And you'll find what you're looking for."

"Wouldn't it be quicker through Water country?" Asked the blonde.

"Quicker yes, but in the reality of the situation it would take you a week longer to find the man. He lives on the coast across from cloud country. So it would be quicker to go and sail from there." Stated Jiraiya calmly.

"…So your not trying to bring me back to leaf?"

"I am, but this way you'll come back sooner" Smiled Jiraiya.

"…"

"hmm?" he became lost in the happiness of his student's cerulean eyes .

"What happened to Sasuke?" Asked Naruto as he looked at his former sensei.

"You'll have to come back to Konoha to see, truthfully I don't know. I haven't seen head or tail of that snob since I've been traveling around, but I have seen Sakura. They miss you, you know that."

"I know…Thanks, and don't tell them where I'm going ok, sensei" Smiled Naruto as he took off running.

"Sensei…" Said Jiraiya, eyes twinkling. He was no longer known as the Super Pervert.

"Oh yeah! You're still the world's biggest pervert! You old pervert!" Yelled Naruto from the distance, As Jiraiya's admiration for the boy came crashing down like a thousand shards of glass.

"…Why do I even like that brat…" muttered Jiraiya.

"…LADIES! Where did you go?" Laughed the 58 year old man as he walked back to find the two women gone. And felt utterly depressed again.

* * *

Two years have passed since that oh, so faithful day

* * *

Sakura sat on the edge of her seat in the hospital waiting room; she'd been taking a rest. A few ANBU members had been ambushed when scouting the area for enemy ninjas and she'd been trying to heal and fix broken bones for the last eighteen hours now. She needed a break, she could barely get up and drag her self home, and she had no energy what so ever to move. Luckily Sasuke had been there because if not, there wouldn't have been anybody to heal. As she gazed around she looked over to her former student Yukio as he stood in front of Sasuke asking him something. 

The Uchiha had taken this blonde annoyance as his student when the blonde wouldn't leave him alone after the Chunin exams. After the exams he didn't really need a sensei but he insisted that Sasuke be the one to train him from now on. Ten-Ten had taken Midori under her wing since they both loved using weapons. The odd thing though was that Masakazu had stayed by her side refusing to leave and go train with anyone else. She loved it, but thought it was kind of odd. I mean, after the Chunin exam they had all ditched Kakashi basically, Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru, Naruto had left long before to go with Jiraiya and she left after to go with Tsunade.  
Sakura then shook her head and got up, but then she wobbled for a few moments before her eyes clouded over and her body started to drop fast. She felt someone grab her, but she had no idea who it was, all she saw was green, then red, and blonde.

Sakura awoke sometime later, not in the hospital anymore but in a dark, one window curtain covered room, with the Uchiha fan painted on the wall above the head board. Sakura grumbled as she turned to her side to see a ray of light coming through the slightly opened door way. Sakura groaned once more as she heard the ground outside being shaken from a battle. She knew right away she had been at Sasuke's there was no doubt about that, but she never thought she'd be in his room again, let alone in his bed.

'_God, doesn't this guy have any guestrooms…not that I'm complaining, but Lee would think something weird if he were to see me in here, barely awake and only wearing Sasuke's old blue shirt from when he was twelve, and underwear…..wait….I wasn't wearing……' _

Sakura then sat up right as quickly as she could and examined herself. Her eyes were as wide as the dinner plates she ate off of. She looked down at the over sized blue shirt, and pulled on it then pinched her self. She was no longer under the covers anymore, her legs were behind her, and her hair wasn't in a complete mess like it normally would be when she woke up. She looked around trying to think about what was going on and who changed her, she then pulled the collar of the shirt slightly and looked down to make sure she had her bra on. And it was, she then let the collar hang low not caring and slouched back.

"You're awake." Came a cool and calm voice. Sakura felt as if a thousand knives had gone up her spine all at once. She then shakily looked over to her left to see red eyes looking back at her. Sakura then instantly screamed as she hid her self under the covers and fell off the bed all at once. Sasuke just looked at the pink haired woman with a mild amused look upon his face; he meant to get some type of reaction but nothing that loud.

"Sakura! Are you alright!" Yelled Lee, as he and her former blonde haired student came running in, sweat dripping off their foreheads.

Sakura then looked at them with wide eyes. The blankets stayed covering her lower area while the collar she had pulled down earlier was a bit lower showing a lot which she'd never shown anyone. Her eyes went wide at what the three males were looking at, and then she gazed down to see her chest. Quickly as if on queue she covered her self up and her face went red as a tomato. Sasuke had been facing the other way by that time, sitting on the couch while Lee and her former student held bright red faces as they quickly turned away to face each other then went even more bright red and then looked away. Sakura watched them lamely try to excuses themselves as she stood up and held the blanket to her body with a bright red face. She then took a deep breath and then firmly and calmly spoke.

"…Who, who changed me?" She asked as she looked at the three males, but two of them were looking at Sasuke with hatred.

"Hn" Was all the Uchiha said as he got up and left. Sakura stared blankly at them before Lee pushed the blonde haired lad in front of him before leaving.

"THE POWER OF YOUTH IS WITH YOU!" then left.

"…Yukio" Said Sakura in a voice, that meant _tell me right now, or your going to die._

"Uh, heh-heh-heh…well you see, when you fainted…Sensei caught you, and then Rock Lee came along…and it got into a battle of who has the scarier face…and who is better at taking care of you…then they ended up taking you here, because his house was closer… and Rock Lee had family over…Then sensei suggested I work on my taijutsu…so Rock Lee and I started to have a small fight…then three hours later, we heard you scream…which brings us right back to here-" Started Yukio as he slowly trailed off.

"But….if you two were fighting that means that….oh my god!" said Sakura as her face became even redder if that was even humanely possible as she looked wide eyed at the whole scenario in front of her. Yukio looked down he knew his old sensei and his new one were in the room alone together, even if the door was slightly opened. He knew something about his sensei that no one else knew, but he was smart enough to shut up about it and never tell anyone, even Sasuke.

"Uh…I'll go find your clothes-" Said the blonde 14 year old as he quickly left, to go and find Sasuke.

"…Sasuke…he…no…he wouldn't, but we were alone….he may have gotten Midori…wait, she's on a mission…and they would never get Ino to come over, let alone would Ino not still be here. But…Sasuke…" Sakura's face was bright red as she plopped her self down on the edge of the bed; she felt the blanket slowly move away from her grasp.

She sat there for what seemed like eternally, she couldn't think. Her pale white legs only showed, her eyes showed no emotion what so ever. She was at a loss of what to think, and before she knew it a man had walked in front of her and placed some clothes next to her before straitening up again and looking down at her. She then slowly looked up to meet with the black eyes of the Uchiha. She felt heat rush to her face as she looked down and back at the clothes that were laid next to her. Her questioning gaze went back up to the Uchiha.

"Ten-Ten" he stated blankly.

"…Wha-" Started the pink haired woman.

"She was with Lee, she came over and changed you…She left before the two idiots found out" Said Sasuke basically explaining why the two men looked at him and thought that he had changed her.

Sakura then realized something, Lee seemed so un-phased by the thought of Sasuke undressing her, and looking at her virgin skin before he'd even seen it. She then looked back to the clothes to see a pair of white shorts and a shirt like she had been wearing just a bit smaller. She had figured that the one on the bed was one of the one he'd warn when he was twelve, and this one was the one he'd probably worn now.

".." She then looked back up to him.

"Ten-Ten took your clothes; I'll leave so you can get changed" Said Sasuke as he left the room, and closed the door behind him.

"…" She gave a low sigh as she started to change out of the overly large shirt and into the smaller one, that was still oddly a bit big on her, and the shorts were large but didn't look too large for her. She then shook her head and slapped her cheeks a few times to try and get the embarrassment away and quietly walked toward the room's entrance.

* * *

"Have you seen this boy" Asked a masked man as he instantly appeared behind an elderly woman and showed her the old ratted picture. The far sighted woman looked at the picture and shook her head. Tobi then started to wave his arms about telling her how the blonde man looked now. 

"Tobi, come…we can't waste too much time here"

"Hai!" Said Tobi as he quickly followed the shorter dark haired man.

Silence was met between the two men, they had been in tea country for over two weeks now and had no luck whatsoever in find any trace of the blonde haired man. Tobi kept his small eye totally on the look out for anything in particular. While Itachi kept taking side glances towards the taller man. Ever since that day two years ago he'd kept a closer eye on the taller man named Tobi. He'd been the one to see Tobi, he watched as the man quickly caught the pole that the fox brat had used as a pathetic weapon and throw it at the wall. But, because of the swift movements his mask had fallen off, and Itachi had only seen part if the mans skin and a small head protector covering his left eye. Or what seemed to be a head protector.

"Two years, three months, two weeks, four days, ten hours, 34 minutes, and 57 seconds…" Stated Tobi right away causing Itachi to look at the man before him.

"…" Itachi sweat dropped.

"That's how long it's been since we last saw Uzumaki Naruto" Stated the elder man, who acted like he was twelve.

"Where are you from?" Asked Itachi now looking at the man who completely stopped.

"…"

"…."

"Look, another kind old lady to ask. Have they seen the Kyuubi boy?" smiled Tobi as he quickly _'__skipped__'_as Itachi would call it toward the elderly woman.

'…_That man, is so…I want to kill him, but he'd probably kill me before I have the chance_' thought the Uchiha as she looked at the man before him who was currently scaring the older woman.

* * *

Sakura slid open the sliding door, only to find her poor former blonde student be thrown into the cool waters of the small pond behind the Uchiha estate be none other then Sasuke. The blonde boy then didn't seem to return from the depth of the water until he leapt out and tried to ambush the Uchiha. Sakura then smiled at the young man as he quickly used a replacement jutsu and appeared behind the Uchiha, but was caught off guard when he was once again thrown into the depths.  
Sakura then slowly walked down from the out door walk way and made her way towards the two fighting ninja. She liked the feeling of the grass between her toes as she walked alone the yard without any shoes on. By the time she'd gotten down there Sasuke had noticed her presence and turned around and looked at the woman. 

"Where's Lee?" She instantly asked, not noticing the glare the Uchiha sent her way before regaining a stoic expression.

"Sakura-sensei!" The blonde called as he stood on top of the water waving to her, his coldness towards other people was still the same except to her for some odd and strange reason; he showed more emotion then any one he'd ever met.

"Look at you, walking on the water…" Smiled the woman as she walked past Sasuke, and smiled at the Uchiha before joining her student out on the water.

"You can walk on the water too…." Said the boy a little clueless.

"Oh course I can, I've been able to do it since I turned thirteen."

"I've been able to do it since I was 13 too!" smirked the blonde quite proudly.

"Have you now? Sasuke and Naruto were both twelve when they learned how." Stated Sakura as she tried to remember.

"Really? Wow sensei, you look different." said the blonde as he looked her up and down.

"Do I?"

"Yeah, this is the first time I've seen you wearing something that's baggy on you, and no shoes…" said the blonde, only to receive a sweat drop from the elder female.

"Oh yeah, Lee had to go on a mission…" added in the blonde.

"Did he? I wanted to speak to him before he left…" Said Sakura, as she sounded a bit annoyed.

"Hn" was the only sound that came out of the Uchiha as he turned his head away from the elder woman and blonde boy.

"Oh yes…Sasuke-" Started Sakura as she started to walk over to him, before stopping in front of him and looking him in the eyes.

"..." the youngest Uchiha just blankly looked into her eyes.

"I wanted to thank you for taking care of me…_again_, and to say sorry for bothering you _again_" Smiled Sakura sheepishly.

"Hn" Was his only reply, which in turn made the pink haired woman put her head down and try to hold back some frustration.

-------

It was around six o'clock in the evening and Sakura along with Yukio were finally about to leave the Uchiha estate. Sakura had mainly watched the two fighting, 'training' as they called it. It was barbaric how the two fought; it reminded her of Naruto and of Sasuke when they had been younger and were always at each others throats. Yukio now stood next to the pink haired woman. She still wore the same outfit as before; the one the Uchiha had given her to wear since Ten-Ten had absent mindedly taken home her clothes for God only knows what reason. She didn't mind wearing his clothes. In fact, it made her feel calmer then when she was in her own clothing. As the two started to walk toward the front of the building Sasuke wasn't too far behind until he said.

"Sakura, stay here a minute; I have to ask you something"

"Huh? Uh…sure, you go on ahead Yukio. I'll meet you there ok?" Smiled Sakura as she watched the blonde nod and run off.

"What is it?" She asked as she looked at the taller man, with her head cocked to the side.

"…"

"…"

"Do you love him?"

"What?" Asked Sakura as she gazed at Sasuke with confusion in her eyes.

"Hn, if you don't love him…then let him go"

"Sasuke what the hell are you talking about?"

"…"He just looked away.

"Are you trying to ask me if I love Lee?"

"…" He barely even glanced at her.

"You're weird…"

"Hn" He gave her _the look_.

"Anyway' Sasuke I have to go, I promised him some Ramen after training. Would you like to come along?" The Uchiha blinked then shook his head. Sakura continued to walk until she was almost around the corner of the house before she added.

"Sasuke, if you'd like to know. Lee and I-" Just as she was about to finish what she was saying the young blonde came out of no were and pulled on her hand and dragged her along with him. "BYE SASUKE!" yelled the pink haired woman as she gave a laugh at the blonde haired boy.

* * *

"Sensei…" 

"Hmm" Said Sakura as she walked along side the blonde haired 14 year old.

"What were you about to say…before I interrupted?"

"..Hmmm, OH! It's complicated…"

"Are you and Lee having problems…"

"I guess you could say that."

"What about?"

"Mostly over Sasuke."

"Sasuke-sensei…why would you be having problems over him?"

"Because Lee doesn't really trust me…" muttered Sakura as she stirred her ramen bowl.

"If you really don't love him, then you should just say so…and find someone else."

"But I am in love…"

"But is it with Lee?" Asked the blonde as he ate his ramen at an inhuman speed.

"Great, I'm getting my personal love life handled by a fourteen year old who's never had a girlfriend…" Muttered Sakura as she pushed the boy lightly from his chair.

"Hey!" laughed the blonde as he looked at his old sensei. Unknown to the two laughing Shinobi, a third was hiding behind a wall with somewhat of a surprised look across its face. Then turned into amusement, followed a sly smirk.

* * *

Canadain-Girl 

Arcane Emotions: Wow, this took some effort to edit. Who is the mysterious person people? Find out in Chapter 7 of "_Secrets of a hidden village__"_

I got someone new to look after this chapter. To test him out. What do you think?  
Anyway's I must say sorry for the lateness, it was all my fault. I got lame and bored and started to slowly forget about this story until I started to talk to Arcane Emotions. And Moogle of course! anyways please review. Chapter seven will hopefully be out sometime this week. Or early next week. Chapter eight will be later on.


	7. Not so bright idea

**Chapter Seven: Not so bright idea.**

* * *

**My dream doesn't't exist in the future. My dream lies in the past. That is the only place it exists.**

* * *

Another two years have passed.

* * *

It was now April; everything in Konoha was starting to get warmer with each passing second. Sakura had just turned twenty-four the month before. She was quite pleased with herself. Well, except the fact that she still had to talk to Lee about their relationship, and she still had to bring back Sasuke's clothes, along with trying to help her very lazy and unenergetic student train. She knew it had been two years; she just got lazy and forgot.

Sakura then gave out a long and helpless sigh, first she would go find that useless student of hers, and then she would bring back Sasuke's clothes, along with getting her and Sasuke's oh-so-perfect student to train with one another. That way she could kill two birds with one stone and then go look for Lee.

As Sakura nodded to herself that it was one of the most brilliant idea's she'd had in a long time, she hurried off to find out were she had placed the stoic Uchiha's clothes as well.

Unknown to the pink haired female she was being watched that very moment, as she quickly turned around to grab some money off her dresser; a scream could be heard all around Konoha. The pink haired ninja sat on the floor looking at the man sitting in her windowsill reading a very bright pink book, with Icha-Icha paradise volume 32 on the cover. The latest one out to date. Sakura blinked a few times trying to register what was happening when he put away his horrid perverted novel and grabbed something from behind him and placed it on the floor. Only to see the silver haired seven year old glaring at her.

"Would you mind taking care of him today Sakura? I have a mission and his mom is working all day. Thanks!" Smiled her former sensei as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"But-HEY…Stupid Sensei" Muttered Sakura as she watched the boy watch her until.

"AUNTY SAKURA!" Yelled the small child as he threw himself into her arms and looked up into her face.

"Hey Kain…" Smiled the older woman as she slowly got off her butt and looked around her room.

"I started at the academy last year!" Smiled the proud boy.

"Ha-ha, you did? Who's your sensei?" She asked as she started to walk out of her room with the smaller boy following.

"Hinata-Sensei" Said the boy as he continued to follow her.

"Hinata? As in Huuga Hinata?" Asked Sakura as she looked down at him.

"Yep…"

"You're awfully cheerful this early in the morning" Smiled the pink haired woman. While she was the complete opposite. _'__He__'__s absolutely nothing like his father, I__'__m so glad__'_

"What are you holding, Sakura?" Asked the boy as he ran in front of her and pointed at the white shorts and blue shirt.

"Hmm, oh. Nothing just something I have to return to Sasuke…Would you like to help me find Mazy?" Asked Sakura as she stopped and looked at the child.

"Sure!"

"Hey, how come you're not in school today?" Asked the pink haired ninja as she looked down at the boy.

"Because it's Saturday" he said very bluntly.

"Right, ha-ha…I guess I just lost track of the days…" Muttered the woman as she looked up and spotted a shaggy orange haired 15 year old.

"There he is!" Pointed out Kain as he jumped up and down and looked towards the orange haired boy who had a girl whom Sakura had never seen clinging to his arm.

"..." Masakazu spotted his Sensei in a second and quickly got rid of the girl, and basically ran over to her.

"Hmm, if you wanted to stay out today with your girlfriend all you had to do was-"

"She is not my girlfriend… Can we just go **now**? Please…why is **it **here?" Stated Masakazu, as he pointed at the silver haired annoyance.

"Because Kakashi-Sensei dropped him off before he left, I'm looking after him today. And you're coming with me to Sasuke's house"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not unless you want to stay with _her_" smiled the pink haired woman as she took off towards the Uchiha estate, with Kain climbing on Masakazu's back and them following closely behind.

"Was that a threat?" Asked the taller boy as he looked over his shoulder to look at the smiling silver haired lad.

"Obviously." Was his only answer.

"How is it that I _let _you ride on me…?" Questioned the teen.

"If you don't…I'll cry and Sakura will beat you…" Said Kain as he smiled sinisterly at the orange haired teen.

"You're not cute and defenceless at all…. you're a demon child"

"…" A smile was the only thing the orange haired teen saw on the silver haired seven year old.

* * *

"Again"

"…But we already went threw it nineteen times already!" Complained the blonde as he looked at the raven haired man.

"Hn"

"FINE!" Yelled the blonde as he tried to create a giant fire ball. He only seemed to get one the size of a basketball.

"You're more hopeless then the dobe… He could probably do better then you and he can't use fire-style jutsu." Said an annoyed Sasuke as he put a hand on his forehead and glared at nothing in particular.

"Hn..." Was all that came out of the boy as he tried again, and again and again. Until…

"UNCLE SASUKE!!!" Yelled a small seven year old as he appeared out of no were and jumped and attacked the 23 year old.

Who, by the way had let his guard down and the only thing the Uchiha could do was grab the small child before falling off the edge of the dock. The only lucky thing was that he quickly forced chakra into his feet so that he didn't't get wet. But the look on his face was priceless.

"Uncle Sasuke?" Yukio and Masakazu asked in unison. Then that's when all hell broke loose. It was true they were still a team, but the two boys never did get along. They were even worse then Naruto and Sasuke; at least Naruto and Sasuke had admitted long ago they were friends.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Asked Yukio.

"Sensei."

"Hn."

"…"

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be training?"

"That's why he is here" Interrupted Sakura, as she walked down to where the four boys were standing.

"What?" Said the three, including Sasuke.

"He's. Here. To. Train. With. Blondie. So. That. You. Two. Can. Learn. Off. Each. Other. To. Help. Improve. Your. Skills. As. Ninja." She said bluntly and clearly.

"Oh" Came from the two teens.

"Hn" As the only thing Sasuke said until Kain got out of Sasuke's arms ran across the water mind you, and latched himself onto Sakura's bare leg earning a glare from the Uchiha.

"When did you learn to use chakra control?" Questioned Sakura as she gazed at the silver haired child attached to her leg.

"**Sasuke**, her legs are _so_ smooth" Smiled the boy, obviously trying to get on the Uchiha's nerves as he rubbed his face against her pale legs, causing the elder woman's face to darken.

"…" An eye twitch was the Uchiha's only response.

"Never mind what I thought before…" Muttered Sakura as she looked down at the small boy, causing him to look up.

"You are exactly like Kakashi-sensei." She then added.

"…" The three males were silent as the small boy looked up at Sakura.

"Isn't being like dad a good thing?"

"No." Came the voices of Sakura and Sasuke.

"But dad, he's the coolest! He's missing an eye! He's a **Ninja Pirate**!"

"…" The two adults looked down at the child then back up to each other and gave a long sigh.

"Kakashi, he isn't missing an eye… He just covers the other one up." Said Sakura.

"Really?"

"Yes." came the two voices.

"You really have _nice long, and_ not to mention _smooth _legs.

"…" Another eye twitch.

"Has Mr. Rock Lee…ever touched these leg-" That's when the boy was thrown into the water by none other then the Uchiha.

"SASUKE!" Yelled Sakura as she glared at the man.

"Hn." Then looked down to see a small bundle of clothes.

"Oh, right… I'll go put these away. And if I come back and you two aren't't training, I'm going to beat the hell out of both of you!" She warned as she gave a flick of her hair and then smiled brightly before turning around and walking up to the house.

"She's scary…" Said Yukio as he watched her leave.

"I don't hear anything that sounds like fighting!" The pink haired woman sang out before stomping her foot and sending the two boys into a crater.

"Yes, defiantly scary." Added in the orange haired lad, as he fell on top of the knocked out blonde.

Sasuke only let out a silent sigh as he watched the two teens slowly come out of the crater and begin there stances. The small silver haired on the other hand was running on the water like a complete lunatic.

'_Why me?' _Was his only thought before turning around and proceeding up to the main house. As well trying to think of a way to fix that now giant whole in his yard.

* * *

Sakura was putting away the clothes in his drawer; it had taken her a while to find it since he had no light in there what so ever. _'__That__'__s probably where the Sharingan comes in, lucky bastard.__'_Thought Sakura as she silently closed the drawer and began to walk out of the room when she noticed a picture sitting on the small nightstand next to his overly large bed.

As she came closer to it, she picked it up and examined it. It was old, from what she could tell, it was taken when Sasuke was around 6-8 years old. Probably a year after he started at the academy. There next to him was his mother, then his father, then Itachi, and then him, all smiling well for the exception of Itachi. Sakura had never seen Sasuke smile, well an actual happy smile like the one he held here.

As she gazed at it a bit longer she didn't't happen to notice a presence come in from behind her, until a heavy breath danced on her neck, and a chin then was rested on her shoulder and was looking over her shoulder causing the poor girl to stiffen. Sakura gave a loud shriek as she spun around and looked at the man before her. Sasuke stood there giving her a questioning look before she laid the picture back down on the small nightstand and looked at him.

"Were they your mother and father?" She questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Yes."

"…" She stayed silent before slowing walking past him to leave.

"That's why I have to kill Itachi, because he killed our entire clan I have to-" **SLAP! **Sasuke turned his head to the right from the force of the slap. Lifting his hand up to touch the red hand-print on his face, knew right away that was going to be there for a while.

"…Sasuke, do you really think killing your brother will prove anything?"

"Hn" Only a glare was the answer.

"I don't get it; I mean you want to kill him because he killed your entire clan. But after killing him what do you plan on doing…"

"You wouldn't understand, you never-"

"Lost anyone before…sure I have, we all have. That's the way of our lives Sasuke. We've all lost someone, and sometimes we're born into this world without ever having anything to loose in the first place. But do you really think killing him is going to make you change? YOU'RE AN IDIOT SASUKE! Even if you end up killing him your personality isn't going to change! You won't turn into the happy guy! You'll still be the same! And probably even more depressing."

"…"

"You say you want to rebuild your clan. How are you planning to do that when you won't let anyone get close to you…Sasuke-" At that very moment he had Sakura pinned against the wall, her hands were above her head, and his body was pressing against hers. He was looking directly at her for the first time in a long time. His onyx eyes penetrating in to her green. Sakura could feel his warm breath brush against her face. His face was slowly inching closer and closer to hers, while her own was starting to get redder and redder with each passing moment.

"Sasuke…" Started Sakura as she looked at him, causing him to close his eyes and pause to where his lips were barely an inch from hers, and shake his head and quickly move away from her.

Then his head spun around to see two teenagers looking at him with an expression that wouldn't be able to be described by words alone. And the small silver haired boy looking at them with an evil smirk until he turned away and ran towards the water wasn't very pleasant either.

Sakura stood there frozen for what seemed to be like eternity. She stared blankly at the Uchiha in front of her, she was shaking. An unknown fear had come over her. While Sasuke on the other hand had already left the building and dragged the blonde boy down to the water and made him try to use that technique again, while the orange haired lad thought it would be wise to follow closely behind.

'_Was he about to…kiss me?'_ Thought the pink haired woman in her mind as she looked wide eyed at the door. Sakura then slapped herself and shook her head and shook it again. The she briskly walked out of the room, and called out.

"Kain, it's time to go…Masakazu you can stay and train if you wish. But either way I won't be able to help you today." Smiled Sakura as she waited for the small silver haired boy to run up and catch up to her. Sakura then took one last look at the Uchiha before her face became very red and started to walk away with the silver haired lad right next to her grinning like a mad-man.

"Alright Sensei." Said Masakazu. As he disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

"The bastard, when was he able to do that?" Questioned Yukio as he glared at the spot were the orange haired teen once stood.

"Hn, you learned long before him, so stop worrying and pay attention to what I am teaching you **now**. And not about what your comrades know." Muttered Sasuke, as he kept an eye on the blonde, and trying not to watch the pink haired female walk away.

"You messed up big time with her…"

"Hn" And that was then the blonde was thrown into the cool waters.

* * *

Naruto gazed at the small boat in front of him; he never did like crossing large bodies of water ever since he wasn't able to use chakra. It had become unsettling for him to think that if the boat were to go down he wouldn't be able to walk to shore. As he gazed at the ending of the land and the beginning of water he began to shift back and forth on his feet while looking at the boat's captain from time to time. The man had to be over 50, his grey head was the first indication, while his shaking body was the next. As the blonde man gave a sigh he slowly started to step towards the small craft. Unknown to him, someone had been watching the blonde and waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

"Can we attack now? His guard is down…"

"Hn."

"Of course there is! He's got a demon fox residing in him, I'd be agitated too…come on, let's attack…."

"No, that's not it. There's something physically wrong for him not to get onto the boat."

"Because we're chasing after him? And almost got him last week, had it not been for that useless man from sand-"

"Hn, the Kazekage."

"Didn't we kill him?"

"Hn. You're slow on times Tobi."

"…Come on let's attack-"

"We wait until dark."

"Why…"

"Easier for us to make a move, he'll be on open water by then. That's when we can find out if the rumours are true."

"Rumours?"

"That the Kyuubi container has really lost his ability to control chakra." Stated Itachi as he disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

"…Your way is cruel…" Muttered Tobi as he stood up and followed the younger man.

"Hn"

* * *

**Canadain-Girl**

_Sorry **Moogle**, but I had to__up-date. anyways thank you my other **two helper type people**. Sorry, im to lazy to look up the names. anyways please read and review. well obviously you read it if your down here. your free to amke some sujestions!_


	8. Secret no more

**Chapter Eight: Secret No More**

**

* * *

**

Sasuke was walking up towards the Hokage's tower to give the status of his last mission. He had been about to knock on the solid wood doors when he heard two people talking. Just as he was about to leave and come back later when a name was heard, which intrigued the Uchiha to stay.

* * *

"You wanted to speak with me?" **  
**  
"I heard from Shikamaru you came in contact with Naruto. Is that true Jiraiya?"

"Yes, and the only reason he knows is because he got my riddle right…damn smart ass."

* * *

Flashback

* * *

_Shikamaru lazily looked at the white haired man before him. There was something this man wasn't telling him, and he wanted to know why he was keeping something a secret. They were standing in front of the waterfall that Jiraiya constantly used to spy on women for his perverted novels. As the 24 year old stood there holding the white haired man in his __Shadow Imitation Technique__. The lazy ninja then started to gaze even longer at the man, and knew that soon he would crack._

"_What do you want? You're just as annoying as your father."_

"_So, what are you hiding from us?"_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_Come off it. Every time Naruto is mentioned you flinch. Like that! You just did it again!"_

"_You have keen eyes." Was all the Old man said._

"_Have you seen Naruto?" The shadow master asked._

"…"

"_We can stand here all day." Drawled Shikamaru folding his arms which, in turn made the old man mirror him._

"_You'll run out of Chakra soon enough."_

"_True, but I have traps set up 30 metres around this place. If you wish to test your luck and die, go right ahead." Smiled the man as he stared down the glare the elder man was giving him._

"_Answer my riddle and I'll tell you."_

"_Troublesome…"_

"_Not even you **Nara **will be able to get this" smiled the man boastfully._

_What's the riddle?"_

"_This thing devours all, _

_Birds, beasts, trees, flowers, _

_Gnaws iron, bites steel,  
Grinds hard stones to meal, _

_Slays kings, ruins towns,  
And beats high mountains down. Can you figure it-Hey! What are you doing?" Questioned the man as he watched Shikamaru sit on the rock behind him and lower his head and close his eyes while placing his finger tips together to make a triangular shape._

_Silence was the only thing that could heard around that spot where the two men stood, and then eventually sat. _

_Jiraiya looked around to see if the kid had been bluffing about the traps, and almost thought he had until he noticed a thin long wire with exploding tags on it going around a few trees and rocks. There were even some behind the waterfall. This man couldn't believe it, this kid had planned on coming here, getting him in that exact spot and knew he'd ask something stupid for the Nara to do. That's why the rock had been behind him, he had positioned them so that he would be comfortable in thinking about what ever the man would or would not have said. _

'_He's so smart it's scary…' Then within that instant, the boys head shot up, his eyes opened and a sly smirk came across his face as he took his hands away from each other and looked at the man._

"_Figure it-"_

"_**Time.**"_

"…_What?"_

"_**Time**, that's the answer. **Time** kills animals, because they age and die. It breaks down iron and steal. Men die because **time** slowly passes by. Towns start to disappear under a certain amount of **time**. Mountains will eventually fall over **time**. It's quite simple when you think about it."_

"_How-I once asked Naruto that…he said Ninja…"_

"_Hn, now tell me what you know." _

"_Your more annoying then Naruto though…"_

"…" _A sly smirk was his response._

* * *

End of Flashback

* * *

"I see. So tell me, you have seen Naruto?"

"Yes, while doing my _research_, I stumbled upon him. He has inherited my hair style!"

"…" Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. Then put a mental picture of Naruto in her head of him wearing the old pervert's hairstyle, and mentally laughed.

"…" He was simply smiling at the look upon her face.

"Anyways, where was he heading?"

"Across the ocean."

"I see. Well then very good that will be…wait-**WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?**!"

"I think you broke my ear drum…"

"He was going **where**?!"

"Across the ocean like I told him to, there's a place over there with a man-"

"You sent him to see **HIM**!"

"Yes…"

"You idiot! Do you understand what you have done?"

"…" Jiraiya was completely lost.

"If that _man_ found out Naruto was the Kyuubi container, he'd instantly get a hold of Akatsuki and sell him out!"

"Believe me, he won't."

"Why would you say that? You don't know-"

"I met him, five years ago. I knew Naruto would eventually end up going to see him."

"And what makes you think-"

"He won't sell out the boy? I have something he wants… And in a deal we made, if Naruto went up to get help. He wouldn't't ask any questions about the boys past only ask about the future. Believe me Tsunade, just because we're old, doesn't't mean we still don't hold power over people." Smiled Jiraiya as he then turned his back to the door and briskly walked out. Only to see a cloud of smoke vanish before him.

"I guess the secrets out now…" Muttered Jiraiya as we stood watching the smoke before him vanish.

* * *

Sakura briskly walked out of her small apartment with none other then Kain following her. It had been a week now and he was still clinging to her like a lost dog. His mom was always busy, and Kakashi well, was always Kakashi so no one knew if he'd be late or early for anything. So she'd had become a full time baby sitter until she could find Kakashi and beat the living hell out of him. She didn't mind though. Because that way he could work on some of his techniques around her. She always asked if Kakashi ever taught him anything. And he would always reply by saying.

'_Dad told me when I get older he'll teach me what ever I want to know.'_

Sakura gave another low sigh, today was the day she would finally get a hold of Lee. They had promised to meet at the restaurant where Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino always ate. As she kept walking she started to wonder, what did she really want in this relationship? It had basically just started to get over Sasuke, but now after what had happened last week when Sasuke had pinned her against the wall she had no idea what to think anymore. It was true she still held feelings for the Uchiha, but were they still as strong as when she had been twelve?

She knew if she was still in love with Sasuke it wasn't right to be with Lee because it was just as if she was using him as a support to try and get over something she'd never get over.  
They had arrived a bit early but that was ok, because this way she could figure out what she really wanted to say and also feed Kain to keep him quiet while her and Lee talked.  
As the waiter came by, Sakura just ordered food for the small silver haired boy and a glass of water for herself and looked out the window waiting for Lee.

"Sakura…"

"Hmm?"

"How come you're waiting for Lee here? And not in the training grounds like normal?"

"Because, Lee and I need to talk."

"Are you breaking up with him?" Asked the small boy as he swung his legs which dangled from his seat. Sakura couldn't think of any reply so she ignored the question and decided to reach slap his hand away from his food he was now playing with when a sudden loud voice spoke behind her.

"Sakura! There you-why's he here?" Asked Lee, while looking at the silver haired boy.

"I'm looking after him." Smiled Sakura as she motioned for Lee to sit across from her while Kain quietly ate, watching the two adults.

"Lee-"

"Sakura-"

"You go first." They both said at once causing them both to laugh while the younger wanted to gag.

"Sakura…"

"Yes?"

"I want to break up." said Lee as he looked at her.

"**What?**" She stated as she looked at him.

"It's just that, I can tell you still have feelings for him, and it's not fair for me to have you when you don't like me that way. Do you understand?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Ok then, well I have to go train some more…it was nice while we had it" Smiled Lee as he left leaving Sakura there glued to her chair looking at the other side of the booth.

"Did I just get dumped?"

"Obviously." Said the small child as he got up and brushed off his pants and nodded to her then left, leaving the poor woman alone.

* * *

"What happened?"

"Lee broke up with her, and she was in shock. Because she was the one that was going to break up with him."

"This is good, now we just have to get him involved in this. And my two students-"

"Dad do you realize how weird you sound? What if mom overheard you talking like this?"

"Your mother's working, and we're in an all males hot spring."

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"How did we get here? And why do you still have a towel covering your face and head when it's only the two of us…and where did you get that cool eye scar?!"

"The towel keeps my face warm. And I got that when I was younger."

"I was wondering."

"What?"

"How come you get me to do your dirty work?"

"…"

"I mean, you get me to spy on everyone, and everything."

"Because, they all respect you."

"Oh. How come they don't respect you?"

"They grew up."

* * *

Sakura sat in her room blankly looking at the very nicely painted green wall in front of her with four hand prints on it. Each one belonged to her and one of her students. She had been painting late last month and her students decided to come and visit her randomly only to find various types of paint. So they took it upon them selves to put hand prints on her wall above the picture of all four or them.

She gave a small smile while looking at the wall. A knock had been heard on her door, but she made no motion to get up and go see who it was. She just sat there like a stick in the mud. Never moving nor blinking. She could hear foot steps and the slight call of her name, but nothing too serious. If they wanted to find her, they would.

All Sakura had been wearing after she got home was a short pair of black tight shorts and a red tank top with her family's symbol on the back. Her hair was down and she wore nothing on her feet. Her slippers were right beside her, but she gave no motion to put them on. She could still hear the person walk aimlessly around the apartment looking for her; even Naruto had been able to find her room quicker then this guy.

Sakura then got fed up with the person trying to find their way around, so she then stood up, and walked to her bedroom door, but it had opened before she had a chance to grab the handle causing the young woman to scream and jump backwards.

There stood before her was none other then Uchiha Sasuke. He looked down at her with an alarmed and amused look. He hadn't expected her to scream, or jump backwards onto her bed and look at him while holding her hand over her heart while breathing in deeply.

"You scare, way to easy."

"It's not my fault! You blend in with the shadows! I didn't't see you! It's not my fault that you got me so jumpy!"

"Hn."

"Sasuke?"

"…" He looked at her.

"Why are you here exactly."

"I was told what happened today from Kakashi"

"You heard about what, exactly?" Asked the confused girl.

"Hn" He didn't't even glance at her this time, but looked straight at the picture of Naruto and the fourth, along with his head protector around the top corner.

"So, why are you-"

"Want to get something to eat?"

"Not really-"

"Hurry up and get changed. You can go like that if you want, I don't mind, but I don't know what everyone else would think."

"Sasuke I'm not going out, and how did you find out about-"

"Hn." He gave her a stern look.

"I really don't feel like going-"

"Hn." The same look, more forceful this time.

"I had an order to come here, believe me if it were up to me I wouldn't't be here in the first place. I have better things to do on Saturday nights."

"Oh thanks, make me feel even more miserable why don't you..." Muttered Sakura as she crossed her arms and legs and sat on the bed.

"Just come will you?"

"Make me."

"…What?"

"You heard me. Make. Me." She said in slightly childish voice.

"Sakura…" said Sasuke in a deadly tone, as if trying to scare her.

"Hn." Muttered Sakura mockingly.

"…"

"If you just got dumped, would the first thing you want to do would be go out and hang out with some other girl the whole night?"

"Hn" He didn't't even glance at her and went over to the photo of Arashi and Naruto.

"Sasuke?"

"Come on" Said Sasuke blankly as he spun around and looked at her, his eyes were looking directly at her, but there was something behind his eyes that seemed sad.

"I don't want to-"

"If you won't come, then I will make you come." He said simply as he walked over to her and grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet instantly and swung her onto her back, so that her arms were around his neck and he was holding her by her thighs. The basic piggy back position.

"Sasuke!" Said Sakura loudly as she tried to kick her way from his grasp.

"Hn" And with that, he opened her window and jumped out and landed next to Konohamaru who basically screamed.

"Sakura, Sasuke what-" but before the 21 year old could finish his sentence, Sakura interrupted.

"Help m-" but before she could finish a snake had gone up Sasuke's arm from out of his sleeve and wrapped around her mouth.

"Hn" And with that Sasuke started to walk down the road with the pink haired female on his back with her face bright red as she watched the people look at her.

"Sasuke!..." she tried to say behind the snake.

"…" Sasuke looked back at her to see her glaring at him, wanting him to remove the snake.

"…"

"Don't scream, or I will drop you in the all male hot spring dressed like you are now" Her eyes widened then nodded. Sasuke then cancelled out his jutsu and continued to walk, until he felt her head bury itself in the back of his neck, as if wanting to hide.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding."

"Just because you hide your face, isn't the same Sakura. Your hair still stands out."

"I wouldn't't be hiding if it wasn't for you. I'd be home-"

"Sulking, you'll get nowhere like that."

"Your one to talk about sulking and depression, Sasuke."

"Hn" He didn't even glance at her this time and just shifted her weight so that she was in a better position on his back.

"…" She lamely watched the people they passed by looking at the two.

"You do have smooth legs."

"What!?" Said Sakura as she instantly pushed away from his back so that her arms were outstretched from his back, he still kept his eyes on ahead.

"You heard me."

"But-"

"But what? You want me to tell you something that will make you more depressed?" Said Sasuke as he wiggled her off his back and set her down in a booth in the far end of the restaurant she had been in only hours before.

"Great, you brought me back to were this all started" Muttered the pink haired woman as Sasuke ordered and looked at her, she had no shoes on, and only a pair of shorts and a tank top, he really should have made her change before going out. Too many people, mostly guys were looking at her.

"Hn."

"Is that all you ever say? You were more talk active when you were younger"

"No I wasn't."

"Well then, you were more cheerful. It was one or the other."

"Hn."

"It was probably because he was around…"

"…" He looked at her questionably.

"Naruto, he was like the glue that kept us all together you know? The one who tried to keep our dreams alive within him. When he was around you have to admit, it was a lot more fun."

"More idiotic…"

"True, but that's who he is…"

"Do you love him?"

"Who?'

"The dobe."

"I wish you would stop calling him that."

"You do…"

"Nope, I don't love Naruto. He's just a friend, a good friend who's gone away…I love someone else."

"Lee?"

"No, Sasuke would you just give up? You're supposed to cheer me up right? Under the orders of Kakashi?"

"No."

"…"

"Under the order of your students."

"You're taking orders from Chuunin now?" Said an amused Sakura as she looked at him.

"Hn."

"You are, that's so sweet!" Smiled Sakura as she laced her fingers together and placed her chin on one of them, while looking at Sasuke.

"I do not take orders from Chuunin."

"Then why did you do it?"

"…" He didn't't have an answer to her question.

"Admit it, you like me more now then when we were kids!" She teasingly smiled as the food was placed in front of her and she forgot about Sasuke and began to eat.

"Hn." He then started to eat too.

* * *

"Know what! I didn't need him; he had weird eyebrows anyway! I mean, hasn't he ever heard of tweezers? And what's with the spandex? No one wears power suits anymore…know what I mean?" Sakura giggled as she took another sip of her sake and made it twirl in the small flask.

"Sakura, I think you've had enough." Stated Sasuke as he tried to grab the small bottle from her.

"There's never enough of a good thing." Stated Sakura as she continued to giggle and keep the bottle out of his reach.

"Come on, it's time I took you home."

"Whose home? My home or your home? Naruto's home that the fourth gave him? Lee's home? Or what about Kakashi's home? Come on lets go there."

"Your house Sakura, and were not going to Kakashi's" Stated Sasuke as he mentally sweat dropped and looked at the female and his very large bill before leaving money on the table.

"Awww, why not? Are you staying at my home?" Questioned the girl as Sasuke walked towards her and started to put her on his back, due to the lack of shoes.

"Because I said so. And no, I'm only bringing you home."

"Ok…" Stated Sakura as she rapped her arms around his neck from behind and laughed at everyone and everything that moved.

"You can't hold your sake well can you?" H asked although her antics gave him his reply.

"I can hold it just fine!" Stated Sakura as she used her hands and pushed away from his back, so she was arms length away again, and with that he stopped and looked at her.

"Sakura, come-" He was shut up when she bent backwards so her palms were touching the ground, and he was holding her legs from behind, then she straightened her legs out and quickly slid them out from his grasp. Then she stood on her hands for about a few seconds before leaning backwards again and letting her bare feet touch the ground and stood back up straight with her front now facing Sasuke's back.

"Sakura what are you-"

"Learn to lighten up! I mean we're two young people, and the night is young! Let's have some fun!" She enthusiastically said as she walked up a pole next to her and continued to walk after it ended until she was upside down with her face, face to face with Sasuke's.

You could hear people laughing and clapping at the woman, some had been watching since they left the bar/grill. Small children up past their bedtimes and travellers watched in awe at the young woman who was walking upside down.

"No, and it's late. You need to go home, and I need to go home."

"No it's not, and no you don't. What are you going to do there? Sit in the dark and sulk? That sounds kind of dull if you ask me." She said as she folded her arms and nodded her head.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke." Stated Sakura in a mockingly tone before forgetting about where she was and releasing the chakra from her feet and started to fall, instantly Sasuke caught her bridal style. She seemed a bit dazed at what had happened before she looked into Sasuke's shocked face.

"There you go, now you're showing some emotion." Stated Sakura as she put her finger on his nose and smiled.

"…" He stared blankly down at her, and then gave a low sigh.

"You look handsome when you smile you know that?" Smiled the pink haired woman as she then got out of his arms.

"What-" Before he could even finish Sakura jumped onto his back and put her arms around his neck and nestled her head on his shoulder and looked around at the people.

"Let's go home, I'm sleepy." She instantly stated as she closed her eyes.

'_One minute ago she was hyper and full of life, now she's tired. Naruto how did you put up with her…' _Thought Sasuke as he glanced back at the pink haired woman's face, only to find her completely asleep.

_

* * *

_

Sasuke continued to walk at a rather slow pace so as not to wake her up. As he came closer to her apartment building he was about to open it when he found the door to her apartment locked. As he looked helplessly at the door he heard a rather loud knocking from above, as he glanced up there were Sakura's three students looking quite pleased with themselves. Well except for Yukio who looked extremely bored with this whole plan. They sat there smiling inside her apartment with a closed window holding up what appeared to be her key.

Sasuke gave a stern glare as he looked up to the three 16 year olds. He motioned for them to open the door, but two of them shook their heads and closed the blinds to her window. Sasuke knew he couldn't just break into her apartment, well he could but he'd have to deal with her, and those three the next day. Sasuke then looked back to the pink haired woman before he gave a low and frustrated sigh and decided to do the most responsible thing.

"If you scream at me for waking you up again, your not going to be allowed near me ever again" Said Sasuke blankly as he looked to the pink haired woman who just mumbled and moved her head a bit more and slept on.

* * *

C-G 

_Side Notes._

**Canadain-Girl: Sorry for such a late up-date. Sadly Moogle was having problems with her computer. So I will have to resort to using a temp Beta. And This was Arcane Emotions last Beta Chapter sadly we will miss him. LOL. Anyways please review! I will be looking forward to them! And I want a few more then last time. I only got 5 for the last chapter. And i was wondering did people just not review or am I loosing readers?**

**Arcane Emotions: This was a hard one to edit. Hope you all liked it!**

**Lonski: That was good, well written. Cute, Sasuke the notorious sour-puss is following kids orders. Bless his cotton socks.**


	9. The Crossing

**Chapter Nine: The Crossing**

**

* * *

**

Naruto was pacing back and forth on the boat ever since it had left the dock. He felt completely vulnerable to Itachi and the '_masked freak__'_as he now referred to the other man. As he walked back to the end of the boat he started to shake, a small cold shiver had gone up his spine instantly. He slowly looked around from where he was and noticed nothing. The waters were calm and the sky was clear. Everything was at peace, for the exception of him of course. As he wandered around again he was hoping to see the sign other the other boat that was supposed to meet them half way.

But as the blonde was about to take another pass around the boat the old man steering it finally spoke.

"Youngster, calm down. I've been sailing these waters my whole life. And nothing bad has ever happened. Trust me; I have ways to deal with problematic ninja. Now sit down and stop your passing it's making me sick just watching you."

"If only he knew. Wait did he mean me, or if ninja tried to attack this boat?" asked Naruto as he looked at the man, who obviously hadn't heard him.

The blonde finally decided to give up his passing, or he'd have to deal with the old lunatic behind him. He sat down quickly right in the middle of the boat. As he sat there he then put his hands together and tried to mould chakra.  
Time had slowly started to pass, the older man had taken up watching the seas, and then slowly started to switch over and watch the blonde haired boy. The man had been amused by this young man, he was moulding chakra as if he was still a Genin, and passing around like some stressed out jounin who's had way to much coffee and ninja after him. So he decided to do the right thing, make fun of the lad as much as possible, or ask random questions about his life to make him feel a bit calmer.

"Hey kid, where you from?" asked the man. As he noticed the blonde instantly stop what he was doing and look up towards the man's face.

"Fire country" said Naruto plainly as he turned back to what he was doing.

"Where in fire country?"

"…Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves"

"Awe, you're from a great ninja village. Figures"

"…"Stayed silent as he pondered over what the man meant.

"But, why are you travelling across the sea? There aren't any ninja villages on that side boy" Stated the elder man, as he watched the blond look down and then look to the man.

"I rather not tell you"

"Hmm, I see…but I'm going to keep asking you questions"

"…Man" Muttered Naruto as his head dropped.

"So, what's your name?"

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto"

"Naruto, huh? Ain't there a bridge named after yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Have you been to the bridge?"

"Yes…"

"Did they name it after you, or another guy?"

"After me…"

"Hey kid"

"What…" said the stressed out blonde as he looked back at the man. The elder man was sure he had spotted a flash of red a second before.

"You a ninja?"

"…" Naruto didn't even reply.

He stayed silent and looked up at the sun, it was starting to set. He was hoping this would be a day trip. If he hadn't stalled before he got on the boat maybe he'd be mostly there by now.  
The man noticed the blonde's odd silence and decided that something must have happened along the way, but being him he wanted to know.

"So kid, what's your dream for the future?" questioned the man. And instantly the blonde jumped to his feet, slightly rocking the small craft. And turned around and looked at the man with his fist close to his heart and his eyes showing excitement.

"I dream to become Hokage!"

"Of Leaf? That's a pretty big dream. Do you think you can do it?"

"Believe it! I've been told by more then enough people I can become Hokage."

"Really? By who?" questioned the man as he looked at the blonde. Knowing that he probably wouldn't know any of the people he mentioned anyways.

"First, Hinata! Then-"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"No, she was though…" said Naruto as he started to get depressed again.

"Uh…who else, boy?"

"Huh? Oh! And Jiraiya the old pervert. Along with Tsunade, and Kakashi-sensei, and Shikamaru once…and the fourth Hokage!" said the blonde as he named the people off his fingers.

"Good, good-wait. Did you say Jiraiya and Tsunade? Two of the three legendary Sennin? And the fourth Hokage? Kid, how old are you?"

"Yeah, they aren't that great though. Jiraiya is a totally pervert. And Tsunade is our fifth Hokage and she's an alcoholic. Yeah the fourth, he taught me when he was-I mean, he taught me before he died. And I am turning 24 soon."

"But the fourth died almost…"

"So, old man how much longer" Said the panicky blonde as he looked at the man trying to change subject.

"Not to much longer. You see that light, that's the other boat com-" And before the man could finish the boat started to tip slightly and the sound of running could be heard.

"Oh no, not here…not now, not when I'm so close."

"What-what's going on?" stuttered the old man as he held his small paddle.

"Look, there he is Itachi. Just like you said. I don't know why you said wait till night. It would have been easier when we were over the larger amount of water." said Tobi as he jumped aboard the boat, only a mere seven feet away from the blonde.

"Hn"

'_Oh god, oh god…what am I going to do…there's no escape…I'm going to die…' _thought Naruto as he looked for a way out.

"So, this is why you were so nervous, kid" laughed the man as he looked at the two younger men.

"…" He just stayed silent.

"Well you're on you own kid, I'm old I can't help you out…" The man grinned as he sat down.

"…**WHAT!**"

"That makes it easier doesn't it" laughed Tobi as he quickly jumped at the boy only to be met with half a dozen kunai.

Naruto then ran to the other end of the boat and jumped passed the old man and dove into the water. He watched as Itachi quickly started to follow behind, and instantly the blonde dove under the water to go to a certain place under the boat.

* * *

**Flash Back**

* * *

_Just as the journey started on the old boat._

"_Hey kid" Said the old man._

"_What is it old man" questioned Naruto as he took another slurp of his ramen in hand._

"_There's a small whole under this boat, right were your standing. If you need to, swim under the boat, and go to the centre you'll find a whole, it should last a little while if we run into trouble"_

"_What?"_

* * *

**End of flashback**

* * *

As the blonde dove under he opened his eyes and looked around he found the spot the man had been talking about and quickly swam to it. As his head reached the whole, he looked around, the man was right it wasn't very large and it would only last a short while before he used up all it's air.

* * *

"Where did he go?" asked Tobi as he stood next to the younger man while leaning on the boat. 

"Where is he?" said Itachi as he looked at the man.

"Don't know, probably in an under water cave, there are lots of them-" And within that second the blond in name was brought up onto the boat, as he breathed loudly and looked scared then quickly jumped into the small boat and held onto the mast.

"Underwater cave?" questioned Itachi as he started to walk towards the man until he felt the water move under him.

"Hey, what's under us?" said Tobi as he quickly stuck his head in the water only to see a huge whale start to come up to the surface.

"What is it?"

"Just a whale" said Tobi as he also started to walk over to the blonde.

"A whale? Those will eat you round here" said the man as the two raven haired men looked at each other before looking down to see the whales mouth wide open and ready to attack them.

"…" Itachi stayed quite as him and Tobi ran a bit farther away, while grabbing the frightened blonde.

"Oi! Let me go!" Said Naruto as his feet dragged on the waters surface and the two men had there arms links through his arms.  
The two men instantly let him go and ran into a separate direction,

'_They listened?' _Thought Naruto as he emerged and looked around to find the two men fight what seemed to be teenagers. As he was about to swim back to the boat something or some one grabbed him by the back of the collar and knocked him out.

* * *

Sakura started to stir from her sleep, even before she had her eyes open she instantly pulled the pillow on top of her head hoping it would make the major hang over she was now caring go away. As she groaned and tried to open her eyes all she could see was total darkness. She then opened them wide and glared at nothing in particular. Sakura then tried to sit up, but found that her head hurt way too much. So as she buried herself into Sasuke's blanket, she noticed that once again she wasn't wearing her normal clothes. She opened her eyes to find her self wearing a long sleeves black shirt that Sasuke and most of the other Jounin wore. 

Sakura's first thought was that Sasuke had gotten someone to change her, but then again why hadn't he brought her home like he should have. That's when she realized she couldn't remember anything about last night, and the strangest thing was, her clothes instead of being piled and folded like they should have been were spread out across the room, and so were someone else's. That's when her whole body had gone still. She realized whose clothes those were scattered and tried to recall the events of last night, but failed miserably. As she instantly rolled over to get out of bed, she was face to face with the sleeping Uchiha.

'_S-Sasuke__…__why is he in the bed with me? And__…__.thank god__…__he isn__'__t completely clothes less._' thought Sakura as she looked at the man next to her who was sleeping on top of the blankets instead of inside, not to mention was completely shirtless. But he still wore in long baggy pants and his sandals. As she looked at him some more, she realized he was extremely at peace right now. His face showed more emotion now then it had since he'd come back.

"Sasuke…" whispered Sakura as she looked at him.

"…" No reply.

"Sasuke" said Sakura a bit more loudly.

"…" Nothing.

"Sas-" A hand was clamped over her mouth instantly, her eyes widened as she watched Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to look at her, his face returning to its normal un-emotional self. Sasuke then gave a low sigh.

"Sakura, its early go back to sleep" he said bluntly as he rolled over, and covered himself with a loose blanket that lay ontop of the covers.

"Sasuke, why am I here? And did you change me?" She questioned only to see the Uchiha stiffed then relax.

"You're here because you students wouldn't let me take you t your house last night, and I would have put you in the guest room, but the rest of the rooms are getting painted. I'd rather not have you high off fumes and drunk off sake at the same time. And I did change you…don't worry all I did was remove your shirt, and other things. Sakura just go to sleep."

"…pervert" She said bluntly as she started to sit up.

"What did you call me?"

"I won't say it again you pervert."

"You just did"

"…What ever"

"Hn" was his only reply as he silently watched her stand up, then wobble for a second, hold her head and sit back down instantly.

"Sakura, go back to sleep" Said Sasuke instantly as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down onto the bed, and pinning her under him. Her face had turned bright red by that time. Being Sasuke only gave another sigh and rolled onto his side once more with his back facing her and muttered something under his breath and closed his eyes to get more sleep.

"You're not letting me go, are you?"

"No, you make to much noise...just shut up and sleep"

"Ah, so you're not a morning person huh? Sasuke" Smiled Sakura as she propped her self on one elbow and looked at the side of his face.

"No, I would be if you hadn't kept me up all night. I am never letting you drink sake again" He added as he once more closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

"That's what Naruto and Kakashi said too…hey Sasuke. Why didn't you just brake into my house like a normal person?"

"Because if I did it my way, you wouldn't have had three students in the morning or a front door. **Now. Let. Me. Sleep**."

"…" She blankly looked at him with an amused smirk played across her face. She never pictured him to be cranky in the mornings. Just as she was about to lay back down a noise was heard from the outside.

"**Oi! **Sasuke-sensei, where are you?" yelled a blonde 16-year-old as he called out for the elder man.

"Shit…" Sasuke muttered. He made a move to get up, but saw Sakura walking toward his door instead.

He didn't mind, really. It meant he didn't have to get up. Then it hit him. Sakura was only wearing a shirt that barley cut down to her mid-thigh. And to be more precise, it was _his_ shirt nonetheless. Also, he was lying here half-naked. If the blonde prodigy saw Sakura open the door and glanced to see Sasuke, he'd never heard the end of it. As Sasuke instantly sat up, Sakura's had gripped the door and slid it open to find Yukio in mid-knock. The blonde's eyes widened for a few moments as he looked at Sakura, who looked lost as to why the blonde was here, and then he glanced behind Sakura's shoulder to see a shirtless Sasuke sitting up in bed with a blanket covering him.

"…SAUSKE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU PERVERT?!" yelled the blonde as he grabbed Sakura and pulled her behind him and glared at the taller man.

"What?" asked Sakura as she looked up at her student, who long passed her height.

"Sensei! What-did-he-do-to-you?" he said clearly and slowly as he shook her slightly.

"What- Oh god, stop shaking, my head can't handle it. No Yukio, Sasuke didn't do anything," Sakura explained, blushing.

"Are you sure? Because if he-"

"If I did, what would you do?" questioned Sasuke.

"I'd tell."

"Hn, in that case, I'd just let your little secret slip in return." Sasuke smirked as he looked down at the boy, whose face had paled.

"What's going-" Sakura began to say.

"Sakura, there's food and coffee in the kitchen. Fifth door to the right," said Sasuke as he looked at her. She nodded blankly and left, completely confused.

"Why-what did you do to her?" he questioned again.

"Hn, nothing. I took her here after you brats locked me out and put her to bed."

"But why in your bed?"

"Because you destroyed half my house last week, and now it's just getting finished. The rooms drying from the paint. You rather her die of fumes?"

"Better then you looking at her all night."

"Hn" was his only reply as he put a palm on the teen's head and pushed him backwards. He made his way down to the small pond while pulling on his shirt.

* * *

"Weird. Those two are definitely weird… Hey! This room is brighter," said Sakura as she examined every room she went by. Each one was different. The first was an office, the next a library. The two after that were guest rooms, and then there was the bathroom. Each one looked as if it was just rebuilt. As she finally came across to the kitchen, she gave a small smile and started to look around for some coffee. She gave a small congrats to herself as she found the canister, then a low sigh to find it empty. But, she did find tea, which was just as good in her mind.

* * *

"Sensei, look! I got better! It's as large as yours!" chirped Yukio as he smiled proudly. 

"I was able to do it when I was 12."

"Yeah, but you learned it when you were, like, eight from what you told me."

"Hn."

"Sakura- Sakura-sensei! Watch!" yelled the teen as he waved to her and watched her sit on the edge of the large outdoor walkway and wave back to him while drinking something. Yukio then took a huge breath and started to form various hand seals. Instantly, a giant fire ball appeared over the small pond's surface. Sakura's eyes widened at the size of it, but soon after she smiled a true smile, one she hadn't showed him in years. One that truly meant she was proud of the boy.

"Hn." That sound was heard next to her. She looked over to see that Sasuke was standing up beside her and gazing at the blonde.

"He seems quite proud."

"He should be, after the years he spent perfecting it."

"Come now, just because he isn't a prodigy- well, like you were- doesn't mean you can be mean to him. He did his best. It may have taken a while to perfect it, but either way he did well," smiled the female as she crossed her legs and looked at the blonde, who was jumping up and down like an idiot.

"Hn."

"I wonder…"

"…" He glanced at her slightly.

"…what Naruto is doing right-"

"Hey sensei, how come you never talk about Uzumaki Naruto as much as Sakura-sensei does?" questioned the blonde as he interrupted Sakura in mid-sentence.

"There's nothing to tell, he's an idiot."

"Sasuke!" said Sakura sharply.

"Hn, he is."

"You see, Yukio. Sasuke is still mad at Naruto."

"For what?"

"Because Naruto had won a battle that should have killed Sasuke, but instead Naruto took most of the damage in order for Sasuke to live as a ninja, unlike- well, I mean…never mind," Sakura then looked down at her tea while getting a glare from the Uchiha.

"So you mean, there's someone more powerful then Sasuke-sensei?"

"Of course there is. There will always be someone stronger, we can't control that. No matter how much we train and work, we will always be weaker than that one person. Because that person will always train and get stronger as well."

"So, Uzumaki Naruto is like that? He was always stronger than Sasuke-sensei. And no matter what, he will never get stronger then him?"

"Naruto is special case," muttered Sasuke as he got a quick glare from his female companion.

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't mean anything," said Sakura.

"Hn."

"Sakura-sensei…"

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering. I've heard rumours from other villages about Jinchuuriki. And I heard that the Kazekage was one. Is that true? And is the rumour true that leaf possesses one?" The two adults both went still as a board. The blonde figured that the rumour had been true.

"Well-"

"This is no concern of yours," cut in Sasuke.

"Yes it is."

"No, it isn't," he repeated.

"If I am going to be a respected ninja of this village, I should know, shouldn't I?"

"Hn."

"Well, that's true, Yukio. But the thing is, dealing with this matter…it's different. Your generation, even our generation wasn't supposed to know about these things. So please don't ask anymore…"

"But sensei-"

"Enough." Sasuke glared at the blonde.

"So it's true. Lord Kazekage was a Jinchuuriki. But which one does leaf have, and who's the lucky-" **Slap**. A red hand print was left upon the blonde's face. Sakura looked at the boy with a look of anger playing across her features.

"People who call other people Jinchuuriki are no better than scum on the bottom of our shoes. The people who possess the biju are some of the unluckiest people in the world. The people who possess those demons are faced with a horrible past of nothing we can ever hope to understand, and sometimes their futures are just as bad. Jinchuuriki, as you call them, are treated horribly among villages. They are only thought of as weapons. And sometimes that's how they are raised. People who possess these creatures are hated and fated as nothing more then a demon. It doesn't matter if the people could be the nicest people in the world. The people around them will always look at them as nothing more then the demons then them selves. It doesn't matter if they have emotions or not. I don't ever want you to say Jinchuriki again! Because they aren't classified as some other species, they're people like us too. They never asked for that kind of power," snapped Sakura as she looked down at the boy. She stood up and walked away.

"…" he stayed silent. As he felt the small trace of charka she had used to slap him hard with, he knew right away that that mark was going to be there for hours- scratch that, for days.

"Hn."

"Sensei, what biju does leaf have?"

"Kyuubi," said Sasuke plainly as he watched the boys eyes widen.

"Sensei?"

"…" Sasuke didn't even glance at him this time.

"Is the one, I mean, who owns the Kyuubi…someone I know?"

"No, they are not someone you know personally."

"Sensei?" questioned the blonde teen as he looked at the raven-haired man who wasn't looking at him anymore, but seemed to be deep in thought.

'_The people who posses the biju are one of the unluckiest people in the world. Because the people who posses those demons are faced with a horrible past of nothing we can ever hope to understand.' 'They never asked for that kind of power' _

"If what she said is true, then- but he didn't have anyone to start with so how can he know what it's like. But, I guess that could be worse, being hated by the whole village because of what you possess, no one wanting you around. Just telling you to die. Maybe it's true; maybe I can't hope to understand his past. Maybe I wasn't meant to understand it. Just because he had that sort of power, doesn't mean he wanted it…" thought Sasuke out loud as he gazed off into the distance.

"Sensei…do _you_ know that person?"

"Hn."

"So, is he a friend of yours or-"

"Hn, he's a complete idiot. If you ever meet him, you'll know him right away. He'll be the first one to yell at you."

"Is he scary looking, like the Kazekage?"

"Hn."

* * *

**C-G:**** Hope you all liked this chapter! And please review!**

**Lonski:**** Sasuke + kids Aww. **

******Moogle: …Naruto-kun's not scary looking! ;.; …Woo! Moogle can beta again! Yay!**


	10. Rain

**Chapter 10: Rain**

**

* * *

**Naruto slowly started to wake. His head felt as if it would explode any minute. He gazed around the room and realized he was in a place he'd never seen before. There were light yellow curtains hanging in the windows. He shook his head a few times before slowly sitting up. There hadn't been much in the room itself, except for maybe a side table and a dresser. As his eyes wandered to the outside world beyond the pane of glass he instantly jumped out of bed and gripped the ledge. 

His eyes instantly widened at the sight he saw. He was in a tall building, taller then the Hokage tower in leaf. There were buildings everywhere he looked. He couldn't believe it, never in his life had he seen so many people, or so many buildings. He couldn't contain himself; he wanted to break out of the room he was in and explore his new surroundings.

As he was about to open the window he heard the door open from behind him. As the blonde slowly looked behind him he noticed a woman standing there in a traditional kimono. Her eyes widened immediately as she dropped the small glass and vase she had been holding and ran out of the room as fast as possible leaving the poor blonde confused. As Naruto quickly ran to stop the woman, and assure her he wasn't going to attack her in anyway. A man stepped in front of the door and looked straight into the blonde man's eyes. Naruto gave a startled gasp as he instantly jumped back and grabbed the place where his heart was located and looked at the taller man.

The other man who had stepped in was quite tall, maybe around 6'6. He had long dark blue hair, and deep lilac eyes. He looked to be in his late thirties, he wore a pair of loose fitting pants, a netted shirt that ended past his wrists and long white short sleeved shirt that had no buttons and was completely opened. As he stopped directly in front of Naruto he seemed to look him up and down a few dozen times before he gave a low sigh and shook his head. The man seemed very well mannered and very well kept. As Naruto looked at him he couldn't seem to avert his gaze. This man was so calm and cool that it made you want to be drawn towards him. The elder man then slowly gave a bow and stood straight up again and stuck out his hand towards the blonde. Naruto looked confused for a moment before he straightened up and took in a deep breath and shook the other man's hand.

"Hn, what's your name?"

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto," said Naruto plainly as he forgot his urge to ask where he was, and what happened.

"My name is Takanozomi. It means tall, honourable hope."

"Where the hell am I?! How did I get here? What happened to those to freaks, and what of the old man?" rambled the blonde, breathing heavily as he looked at the man, remembering the thoughts of the night before.

"You are in Ronin, the second largest city in Tanaka. You got here late last night. My twin sons saved you last night when doing fairy duty, while the old boatman saved you, I believe. Those two men left soon after, I am not certain if they followed or not. The old man as you speak of is back home safely," finished the man as he looked at Naruto.

" I got across…the ocean…" said the blonde as he gave a small smile on his now hidden face.

"I believe so, unless you wanted to get across to that barbaric land across-"

"It isn't barbaric!" snapped Naruto as he looked unsurely at the man.

"By your appearance, I have to say otherwise."

"You try traveling for seven years, sleeping outside earning what money you can. Staying hidden all the time…" muttered the blonde under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing…hey old man-"

"I am not old, I am only 35"

"**Whatever**, I'm looking for a man who lives on the side of the coast. He's a great medical ninja. Or at least that's what the old pervert told me."

"A great medical ninja? The only ninja over here are my sons and an old man by the name of Yokousagi. But no one has seen him in over 20 years."

"Can you show me where he lives?"

"Now?"

"Yes, I'm kind of in a rush."

"My sons can show you. They seem to hang around there a lot. Though they've never seen him personally. Just his home, I'll get them to take you there when they return home," said the elder man as he gave a low sigh and knitted his brow together, as if trying to think.

"Thanks."

"Why do you need to see him, so badly?"

"I don't need to see him. I need his help."

"Help?"

"Yes."

"But, from what I've heard my sons say. Aren't there medical ninjas where you live that can easily help you out?"

"Not exactly," smiled the blonde as he turned his gaze.

"I heard you say there aren't any ninja on this side, but you and a lot of people below are dressed as ninja?" added in the blonde.

"Travelers, and I'm retired. I don't much go into fights anymore. We came from the land you claim you came from. But I haven't been back since, when I was there it was barbaric. That had to be over 15-20 years ago…"

"That would have been around the time of the great ninja war…" thought Naruto aloud.

"Yes, that is about right."

"Well, times have changed since then. There aren't any great wars going on anymore."

"Then why are there still ninja?"

"…what?"

"If everything was at peace you wouldn't need ninja."

"That's true, but there will always be bad people in the world. No matter where you are or where you go. Things just happen, and there's nothing we can do about it. Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny. There's no point in wondering if its right or wrong. It just is. It's the same in the village hidden in the leaves."

"I see, but what is the reason for that. You tell me?"

"I had a friend ask the same question many years ago when I was just a kid. And these are the exact words my sensei told us. _Well__…__it__'__s a question without an answer. And we ninja have to deal with that every day of our lives_."

"That's what you believe?"

"Nope, not at all. I'm currently fighting to change that." The blonde grinned.

"What do _you_ believe then, Uzumaki?"

"Ok, I've just come to a decision. From now on, Im' finding my own ninja way. A way that's straight and true without any regrets. From now on, I'm following the way of Naruto."

"What type of answer is that?"

"A twelve-year-old's naïve answer. And part of what I said is still true. But I know now, we could never live in a time without regret. It's impossible. But I will find my own way that is straight and true, to help out everyone."

"But-"

"Dad, we're home!" yelled two boys as they entered the room, they dressed exactly like the man, except their shirts were closed. They looked identical. They had the older man's hair, and looked no older then 15. They then froze and looked at the blonde.

"Yuni, Oni. Take Uzumaki Naruto to Yokousagi. You know where that is."

"Right now?" they asked at the exact same time.

"Yes."

"But-"Again at the same time, they seemed to speak at one person instead of two.

"Don't back talk to me. Take him now."

"But, do you realize that will take a good week. Or longer with this guy, I mean he could be the slowest person in the world," said the two as they walked towards the man and split up and walked around him, then walked towards Naruto and started to circle him.

"He's a ninja like you. And you will take him there **now,**" he demanded as he left the room.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Naruto as he looked at the twins, who were looking him over very oddly.

"You of course. Where do you come from, what's your name, how old are you?" they asked in unison as they stood in front of him, crossing their arms at the exact same time while tilting their heads at the exact same time, it was like looking at a mirror copy of one boy.

"I come from Konoha, village hidden in the leaves. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm 23 years old, 24 in October," said Naruto as he watched them stand up straight again and walk closer to him, it was really like watching a boy standing next to a mirror it was creepy how in unison they were.

"Village in the leaves, did he say?" said the boy named Yuni.

"Indeed. He said that, and he'll be 24 this year. But to be from that village he must be a very skilled ninja…" said Oni as he looked at his twin. Then they both put there newly formed fists in the palm of there other hands as if they just came upon a new idea and looked at the boy evilly.

"…" he stayed silent as he looked at the two.

"We'll take you there…but, in return. You must take in a small match against us before hand. And give it all you got, we want to see how strong real ninjas are," smiled the two as they stopped speaking to him.

"I can't."

"What?!" said the two as their mouths literally dropped to the floor.

"I can't…that's why I have to go see old man Yokousagi."

"…Fine, after what ever you have to do there. You promise to battle us?" they asked as they looked at him with the largest puppy dog eyes ever.

"…Uh..."

"Did that sound like a yes to you?" asked Oni as he turned to his brother.

"It was close enough to one for me," smiled Yuni as he turned towards his brother.

"But I didn't-"

"Doesn't matter. Come now," said the two as they dragged the blonde out.

"Oi, hey! Wait…but-HEY!" yelled the blonde as the two jumped out the closest window.

* * *

"You know, I've been thinking. Maybe he's gay."

"Midori, he isn't…gay," said Yukio as he gave a glare over at the girl in between the two teenagers at Naruto's favourite ramen stand.

"I was just suggesting it…"

"Midori, think before you speak. And if you have anymore ideas like that, don't say them," said Masakazu as he lamely stirred the bowl.

"Hey, you guys tore me away from practice just to come and eat ramen. I think I should be allowed to suggest anything I want," she said as she gave a glare at the bowl in front of her and continued to eat.

"Hn, anyways, Sasuke-sensei isn't gay."

"How do you know he isn't?" questioned Masakazu as he looked over to his teammate.

"It's Sasuke-sensei…I've caught him looking at girls. Well, that was once but still. He isn't gay"

"Ok, ok. But really we have to come up with something soon…or by the time things finally do work out, they'll be old," muttered Midori as she stopped eating.

"Why do we keep coming here? There are other places to eat," said Masakazu looking completely bored while getting a glare from the man behind the counter.

"Because it's cheap," Yukio stated as he ordered another bowl.

"For who? You, because you never pay for them yourself, or for a normal person who only buys one bowl?" teased Midori as she placed her elbow on the counter and her head in her palm as she looked at him amusingly.

"Shut up," said Yukio as he slurped the last of his bowl and looked at her.

"I don't get how you're not dead yet. This is all you ever eat," said Masakazu as he rolled his eyes at the long-haired blonde.

"I don't just eat _this_. I do eat other food, when I'm over at Sakura or Sasuke-sensei's homes."

"What, you just go over there for food?" questioned the female.

"…No, I go to Sasuke-sensei's to train, and Sakura invites us all over when she's bored. Another bowl!" said Yukio as he lifted up his bowl. The older man nodded and started to make a new bowl for him.

"I swear, you like this as much as Naruto did," smiled Ayame as she handed the bowl to the blonde.

"You mean Naruto used to eat here?" questioned the three.

"Of course he did. Every single day since I can remember, he used to be here for breakfast, lunch, and supper. And sometimes in-between," chirped the female.

"Is that true, old man?"

"Yes, Naruto and the fourth used to come here everyday."

"The fourth, let me guess Naruto used to drag him down here, too. Like Yukio does to us?" questioned Midori as she looked at the two behind the counter.

"Well, from what my father told me, the fourth Hokage used to come here a lot when it first opened. Then when he returned, he's the one who'd drag Naruto down here."

"So they really loved this place? Who's bill was bigger, Naruto's or his?" asked Masakazu as he pointed his chopsticks at the blonde, only to get a glare in return.

"Naruto's was quite large. There's no way this young man could match it. Even if he ate 20 bowls a day, five times a day for the past two years, he might just then get half of Naruto's bill," smiled the old man.

"Hey, old man, what's Naruto look like anyways?" questioned Yukio as Midori hit him for calling the elder man _old_.

"Naruto? Well, he had bright blonde hair, lighter then yours. Tall, large blue eyes and a smile that looked like it had never stopped. What else-"

"Konoha's number one knucklehead ninja," cut in Kakashi as he dragged a small silver haired clone behind him covered in dirt, water, more dirt and an odd mix of paint.

"Kain! What happened?!" shrieked Ayame as she came out and ran to the small, beaten up child.

"Nothin'!" said Kain as he looked away.

"Nothing? Don't tell me this isn't nothing. Look at you!"

"He got into a fight with Sasuke," said Kakashi plainly as he sat down next to Yukio.

"Who won?" asked the orange haired boy, not really paying attention to what the elder man said and getting a bizarre look from the silver haired man.

"Sasuke, of course. He went over there demanding that Sasuke go say sorry to Sakura…or something like that," said the man as he slowly started to get sidetracked while reading his horrid book.

"Weren't you reading a pink one before?" asked Midori.

"I was, but then this one just came out. It's issue number 34, the first one out in the last two years!" smiled Kakashi as he showed them the cover.

"Is it just me, or is he a total pervert?" asked Yukio as he looked at his two teamates.

"He is," said Ayame as she got a bowl for Kain.

"You're Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto's sensei, right?" asked Midori while looking at the man, who didn't even glance up from his book.

"Yes."

"So, when do you think he's coming back to Konoha?" she questioned.

"Don't know. Maybe tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, ten years. Won't know till he comes," said Kakashi as he flipped a page in his book.

"So, who's stronger than you in your four man team?" asked Masakazu as he looked at him.

"Sakura has the brains. Naruto has the strength. Sasuke has both."

"So it would be Sasuke-sensei," smiled Yukio.

"No."

"But you just said-"

"I know what I said. Just because he has both doesn't mean he knows how to use it. The strongest man on my old team would be Naruto. Now, if you had asked me 12 years ago, I would have said Sasuke."

"But Sakura told-yelled at me, that no matter how much stronger you get, that one person who is stronger then you will always be stronger. So that means Sasuke-sensei should be stronger," said Yukio recalling the events that happened three days before.

"True, she was right about that."

"Then-"

"But Naruto is a bit different."

"That's what Sasuke-sensei said."

"Did he," smiled Kakashi from behind his mask.

"Yeah, so how is it that-"

"…You see. Naruto was always stronger then Sasuke, but dumber at the same time. Sasuke was always more skilled; it came to him naturally. Naruto had to work at it because it didn't come to him as easily. And so, Naruto trained more, and harder then ever to become the great ninja that he is today. Even though Sasuke did train hard, Naruto had something he didn't."

"What's that?" asked Kain as he now listened.

"Spirit, a dream, and something to protect. Others would say Chakra."

"Spirit, a dream, and something to protect? What were those things?" asked Masakazu.

"His dream was to become Hokage, and be the greatest there ever was, to surpass all the other Hokages and bring peace to the ninja villages. He's already done that with sand and mist. And the thing he had to protect, you'll have to ask him that yourself," smiled the man as he stood up, left money on the table, waved good bye to the woman at the counter and picked up the small child. He threw him onto his shoulder and continued to read his book while walking back to his house.

"What a show off…" muttered Yukio.

"I wonder how strong he really is?" Masakazu mused as he thought of a tall, bleach-blonde-haired man with dark blue eyes, who has crazy amounts of power. In his mind, he was looking at a blonde, blue-eyed **terminator**.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she gazed out the window. She had just got news on Akatsuki only hours before. And now she was wandering around there old training ground. She found herself standing at the same pole Naruto had been tied to when they had been twelve. She gave a faint smile as she ran her fingers across the wood. She then stood up and turned around to see Sasuke standing a few feet behind her.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" she questioned as she looked at the Uchiha.

"Hn," was his only reply as he walked towards her and leaned on the middle pole.

"Did you come here just to think or-"

"I knew you'd be here after the Hokage told you the news."

"Oh," said Sakura as she looked down to the ground.

"I thought about it, too."

"What?"

"Hn, about how close Akatsuki is to getting Naruto. They already have the eighth Jinchuuriki. It's just a matter of time before they truly go after Naruto."

"They've been after him since he was 12. And who knows, maybe even before then. But maybe they won't…"

"Hn, foolish thoughts. This time it may be more then two going after him, maybe the rest."

"I heard that there were ten in the beginning, but Orochimaru is gone, so that left nine. Then the one that I and the old woman from sand killed. Then the two Shikamaru and Naruto took out. And the one who used bombs, you took him out a long time ago. That only leaves five. And maybe less than that. We don't know."

"The leader is planning something large to want all the tailed beasts. And we need to stop it before they get Naruto."

"It would be more helpful if we knew where he was," muttered Sakura.

"He crossed the ocean, to see a man."

"He did what?" questioned Sakura as she looked at him, dumbfounded.

"He went to see a man."

"And how do you know this?" asked the pink haired woman as she crossed her arms and looked at him.

"I overheard-"

"You were eavesdropping weren't you! You're lucky you didn't get caught, Sasuke. It's just got to the point where the village has begun to trust you again. But if you had been eavesdropping on top secret information, then I don't even think what would have happened!" snapped Sakura as she glared at the man.

"Shikamaru knew before any of us."

"That's different. He knows how to keep it to himself! And let me remind-"

"Naruto had Jiraiya's haircut," said Sasuke plainly as he watched the young woman's face go from pissed off to confusion then utter amazement, then to disgusted.

"He didn't! …it was bad enough when he let it grow to look like the fourth's. But why his? He has to have the worst hairstyle in the century," said Sakura as she looked around to make sure he wasn't there.

"It's going to rain," said Sasuke as he gazed up at the sky.

"No it's not," said Sakura as she absentmindedly waved her hand in the air.

"Hn," was Sasuke's only reply until the rain started to fall in giant sheets, soaking the two instantly.

"…Just shut up," Sakura growled warningly as she glared at Sasuke.

"Come on," said Sasuke as he started to walk back towards town.

"Come on, where?" asked Sakura as she watched Sasuke start to walk away.

"Hn," was his only answer as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Why are we walking!? Its raining out here!" yelled Sakura as she ran to catch up with him.

"Hn."

"You're annoying."

"Hn."

"Sasuke. That's it! I can't stand it anymore! Why do I even bother liking you, you cold-hearted bast-" And before the young woman could finish, Sasuke turned around, grabbed her and looked her straight in the eye, causing her to stiffen.

"Sasuke, what are you-"

"Hn." Then, as quickly as he had turned around, he crashed his lips onto hers while smirking to himself as he felt her stiffen under him. She instantly loosened as he pulled out of the kiss. He gazed at her now bright red face. Just as he was about to turn around and continue back to the village, Sakura grabbed his hand and looked at him.

"What, what was that all about just then…?" she asked as she looked at him, rain pouring down harder each passing second.

"…" He barely even glanced at her as a small tinge of pink played across his face.

"I see," she said as she lunged towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, while his arms wrapped around her waist and he looked her in the eyes. They were spinning at that moment and she was laughing while he smirked and within that second she quickly closed the gap between them. The rain continued to pour, but neither one cared.

* * *

**Canadain-Girl : _Thanks Moogle! Anyways sorry for such the late up-date! And those of you who reviewed! Hope you like it!_**

**Moogle: _Moogle rushed a bit. ;.; Curse you, life! Hope I didn't miss much-OMG SasuSaku! OO_**


	11. To you, From Me

Hey all, this is just an up-date telling you all stuff.

The next few chapters are going to be really late. Because I will be moving away to Alberta. And I hope you can all under stand. I will write chap 13 down and type up later. But im not sure if were going to have internet right away so chap 11 and 12 will take longer then expected. Anyways that's all I wanted to tell you guys.  
Hope you can understand.

Canadain-Girl  
-Haley 33


	12. Death

Chapter Eleven: Death

* * *

Sakura stared blankly at the wall in front of her; it consisted of a desk and a few pictures. As she rubbed her eyes and slowly turned onto her back, she looked at the ceiling thinking of the previous night's events. She then held the blankets tightly and squealed in delight and rolled back and forth, back and forth for a good five minutes until she calmed her self down and sat up and turned slightly so her legs were hanging over the edge of the bed and her feet touching the floor. Sakura could clearly remember everything that happened the night before.

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

After she and Sasuke stopped spinning and he placed her on the ground, she couldn't even look into his eyes. Her blush spread right across her face while Sasuke's blush had long gone. Now he was gazing down at her with an arched eyebrow and a smirk. Sakura just kept her eyes low to the ground admiring her sandals. Sasuke then lifted her chin and made her look at him. The first thing she noticed was his oh-so-playful smirk he wore whenever he would tease and taunt Naruto. He then grabbed her hand and started to drag her away out of the rain. The two ended up going to a bar and grill where they noticed Shikamaru, Ino and Choji sitting down eating. They invited them right away.  
Sakura sat next to Shikamaru and on her other side was Sasuke, while Ino and Choji sat on the other side.

"What brings you two here?" questioned the shadow master as he tilted his head to the left to look at the two drenched ninjas.

"Sake, lots and lots of sake" Muttered Sakura as she looked straight ahead to the space between Ino and Chouji.

"Sakura, you never drink. What were you two doing, anyway? You're soaked! You had to have been out there for a while," said Ino as she looked at her friend.

"Ah-" started Sakura until Sasuke cut her off.

"Training."

"Is training all you two ever do?" questioned Chouji.

"Pretty much. Unless you count the lack of missions we've been getting," said Sakura.

"You too, huh? There haven't been any missions lately for us either. It's as if everyone is behaving. The only ones getting the missions now are genin and chuunin," said Ino as she glared at nothing.

"Aren't you a chuunin, Ino?" asked Sakura as she gazed at the blonde.

"Shut up **forehead girl**"

"…" The three males looked blankly at what just opened up before them.

"Ino **pig**!"

"Forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Pi-**sake**!"

"Fore-wait, what?" said Ino, confused, as she looked at Sasuke, who had shoved the sake bottle in Sakura's line of vision, causing her to forget everything and grab the tiny bottle and pour some into the small cup.

"Hn," was Sasuke's only reply as he gave a low sigh and watched her drink it up in a matter of minutes.

"So, were you two out to see Jiraiya yet?" asked Shikamaru, causing Ino and Chouji to look at him oddly.

"No, why?" asked Sakura as she put down the bottle and looked at the brunette.

"To ask about Naruto," he said plainly as he looked outside.

"He went across the ocean, didn't he…?" asked Sakura as she looked at him. He lamely tilted his head back towards them and gave a sigh, already knowing one of them either heard their conversation or the one Jiraiya had with the Hokage.

"From what I heard, he went across in search for help."

"Shikamaru! Why didn't you tell any of us about this?!" Ino snapped.

"Because he told me not to. The Kazekage will be here next week."

"Gaara?"

"Yeah."

"What does that have to do with-"

"He knows more about Naruto and the situation than Jiraiya and me. Even more than the Hokage."

"But why is he coming here?"

"Don't know. Something big's going to happen, though. By the way, there haven't been any missions lately. It's as if everyone's afraid to make a move. Haven't you noticed that there aren't any outsider ninjas coming in the village lately. Sasuke, you've noticed, haven't you? Even the chuunin exams didn't have a high attendance rate this year," Shikamaru stated as he gazed at Sasuke.

"I noticed that, too. I thought I just wasn't paying much attention. But now that you say you've noticed it, I don't know what's going on. But something is going to happen soon," Sasuke concluded as he looked at the small bottle in front of him.

"I really shouldn't drink this," giggled Sakura as she finished her fourth bottle.

"Hn," was Sasuke's only reply as he looked over to the pink haired woman, realizing how much she had been drinking. He rolled his eyes slightly.

"Sakura, let's go," said Sasuke as he motioned for her to follow.

"I'm fine, I think I'll have another-"

"Sakura," Said Sasuke sternly as he looked down at her.

"He kissed me. Twice," Sakura stated randomly, causing Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru to look at her with widened eyes and then all look at Sasuke who had a bad eye twitch going on.

"He **what**?" Ino asked incredulously as she looked at Sasuke.

"You heard me, Ino **pig**. He kissed me once, and then I kissed him back. We weren't training, actually. We were talking," said Sakura as she smirked at the look on Ino's face and swirled her small bottle.

"It's time to go," said Sasuke, not caring if he had to drag her out of there. All he wanted was just to shut her up. As he pulled her out of the booth and left some money on the table, he quickly walked away without any explanation as he dragged the staggering drunk.

"…Was she telling the truth or-"

"Don't know, don't care. Neither should you. You have a boyfriend, remember?" said Shikamaru as he signaled to Chouji, who was looking lost.

* * *

Sasuke dragged the young female down the street for about three blocks until she finally got sick of his no talk attitude and forced him to let go of her. He then spun around and looked at her with a questioning gaze until she finally spoke up. 

"Sasuke, I didn't want to go yet"

"You're drunk," he stated plainly as he looked at the young female, who could barely stand.

"Am not! I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much!" retorted Sakura as she placed her hands on her hips.

"No you're not. You can't even stand up straight."

"I can so," she said as she failed miserably at trying to stand.

"Hn."

"Whatever. I'm going home."

"I'm not letting you go home alone."

"Why not?" she asked as she spun around and looked at him.

"Because you're drunk and you could end up hurting yourself. Oh, and you're going the wrong way."

"I will not hurt myself. I can handle myself fine! And I was taking a shortcut."

"Hn."

"I was."

"In the opposite direction, towards the training grounds."

"I might want to do some training."

"Just let me take you home."

"Why?"

"Because someone could easily take advantage of you right now."

"They could not," she stated.

"Hn."

"Sasuke…"said Sakura as she walked up to Sasuke. Her body instantly got closer to his and she stared right into his eyes, their lips only inches apart.

"…"

"Would it bother you if someone else were to touch me…an' hold me… an' feel me?" she questioned as she grabbed his hands, placed them on her hips, and leaned in even closer, if that was humanly possible.

"…"He had no answer. If it had been lighter outside she would have noticed the small tinge of red appear on his cheeks.

"Well?" she asked.

"Let's just go."

"You know Sasuke, you're the only one I'd let see me anyways," she said in a seductive manner as her lips brushed against his and her hands felt his chest through his black shirt that was visible though his opened vest. His eyes slightly widened at her words as she grabbed his hand and started to walk towards the direction of her home.

They made it there in less then twenty minutes. Sakura was forced to stop at the entrance of her home as Sasuke instantly stopped. She turned her head slightly and looked back at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry," he said as he took his hand away. He slowly and turned around and continued to walk away until he stopped, realizing that she was still there. He looked back for a second before returning on his given path.

* * *

**End of flash back**

* * *

"I wonder if I came off a bit sluttish?" said Sakura aloud as she changed into her normal clothes. As she looked herself over in the mirror, she began to walk out of the room and head towards her kitchen.

As she passed the living room, she noticed someone on the couch. As she came closer to it, she gave it a nudge. It gave no response. She gave a slightly harder nudge; still got nothing. She instantly pushed it off to find Sasuke on the floor, bleeding.

"SASUKE!" yelled Sakura as she knelt down to him, instantly and looked him over. His gut was bleeding badly, while his breathing, on the other hand, was slowing down each passing second. She grabbed a hold of him, put him on his back, and quickly tore off his shirt and vest, using some chakra to cut open his shirt. As she examined his wound, she began to heal him. She stopped and used a few hand seals to summon a subordinate slug of Katsuya's and demanded that it go get the Hokage and a medical team. As she watched it scurry off, she noticed the window was opened widely and a blood trail was headed towards her room, but it only seemed to make it as far as the couch. Sasuke must have collapsed there.

* * *

"That's it?" questioned the blonde as he looked at the small hut on the side of the shore along with a lot of burned-down and rundown huts. It appeared to look like no one had been there for years. 

"Yeah, that's it," confirmed the two teenagers as they looked at Naruto, then back to the hut.

"You're positive he lives there?"

"We've been spying on him for years. This is where we leave you. He doesn't like people. See you later, Naruto," they said as they left, leaving the blonde as he looked at the hut.

"What do you mean, you have been spying on him for-Hey! Don't just leave!" yelled the blonde as he finally noticed the two had gone.

"Bye!" they shouted from the distance.

"Well, I better heal up soon. I promised her I'd become Hokage," smiled Naruto as he jumped down from the tree and landed on the ground. He began walking towards the small hut.

* * *

"What happened?" questioned a man hidden behind total darkness. 

"He's useless," stated Itachi.

"Useless? The most powerful-"

"His chakra cells have been disconnected, meaning his channels don't work."

"I see."

"I don't understand." Tobi piped in.

"Hn, figures you wouldn't," spat Itachi as he glared at the man.

"Hey…"

"What it means is that without his chakra channels and cells working, we can't extract the Kyuubi. He is of no use to us; he's as good as dead. There's no point in going after him anymore," stated the leader as he slowly started to vanish in the hologram.

"Hns" Itachi turned around and started walking away.

"But…he went for help, didn't he? And how can you be sure he can't use chakra?"

"My eyes see chakra. There was no trace running through him. The Kyuubi that resides in him is as good as dead to us," said Itachi as he disappeared.

"He's right, Tobi. Even if he did get help, he wouldn't be able to stop us in time," said the leader as he gave a final flicker and disappeared.

* * *

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to see a plain white ceiling. He shut them hard again to regain some type of vision. His eyes were blurry. He wondered how long he had been asleep. As he looked to his left, he noticed a window was opened slightly with a warm breeze coming in. Then as he looked down there was Sakura. Her head was placed in her folded arms on the side of his bed and she was fast asleep. He noticed right away that she wasn't wearing her red shirt up the black netted one she wore underneath; the shirt covered her chest area and then went back to netting all down her stomach and back. As he looked at her, he noticed her red one on the back of the chair with blood on it. 

His eyes stared at it for a few minutes until he realized it was his blood. He then looked back at her. Her hands had white bandages on them, her hair was a stylish mess, and her face had tearstains coming down from her eyes. Sasuke then slowly started to sit up without moving the blankets so she wouldn't wake up and looked around the room. It had three more beds inside it all completely white with a curtain surrounding each one, and a single door. He looked back down to the pink haired female and he was about to get up when she started to move around.

"Sasuke…" she mumbled as she turned her head to the left.

"Hn."

"Sasuke?…SASUKE!" She yelled as she instantly sat up and looked at him with widened eyes.

"…" He just stayed silent and looked at her.

"Are you ok? Does it hurt anywhere?!" She instantly asked as she stood up and looked at him with a clipboard in hand.

"Im fine Sakura" Stated Sasuke as he looked at her. _'Where did the clipboard come from?' _he thought as he watched her slowly put it down on the bed.

"Are you sure, I mean you've been out for days" She said as she looked back at him, while slowly sitting down.

"Days?"

"Yes. I found you at my apartment, what happened?" She asked.

"Just what I would like to know," said Tsunade as she came into the room, causing Sakura to rise to her feet while Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Hn"

"Uchiha Sasuke, what happened?" asked the Hokage as she looked down upon him.

"Don't know"

"What do you mean you don't know?" She said in a vivid voice.

"Don't know. After I dropped her off, I was walking back home. I passed the training grounds and two people in black came at me. Last thing I remembered was waking up here."

"You're positive?"

"…" He just looked at her.

"Which training ground were you in?"

"Third."

"Right. Shizune, go get a team ready and search the third training ground for any clues."

"Right!" she said as she quickly exited the room.

"Sakura, could I speak to you for a minute?" asked the Hokage as she left the room.

"Sure," answered the pink haired female as she slowly got up and walked out, leaving Sasuke staring out the windows.

* * *

"Sakura." 

"Yes?"

"You two seem close."

"W-what? N-no…you must-"

"That's not what I meant, Sakura. But now that you mention it, you two have been getting closer."

"Tsunade…" muttered Sakura as she looked down to the ground.

"Right, right. Anyway Sakura, since he seems to be able to open up to you, try and ask him in more detail about what happened last night."

"But-"

"Please Sakura. This is an order."

"Ok," she said as she watched Tsunade walk away, leaving the poor female standing there.

* * *

Sasuke heard the door lightly open, but made no move to see whom was entering. He could already tell who it was by the smell of flowers from her hair. As Sakura came closer towards him, he could hear the clicking of her heels stop on the opposite side of the bed from where she had been sitting before. 

Sasuke tilted his head to the left and his eyes just skimmed over her before looking back out the window with a stoic expression.

She stood there with her hands together in front of her and her eyes showed regret and remorse over something. He knew that whatever the Hokage told her couldn't have been good. As he continued to look out the window, she gave a low sigh and kept standing there in that spot, not even moving.

"Sasuke," she began as she stood right next to him. Her voice sounded distant. With this, he instantly looked at her.

"…"

"I- No, I mean…Well, what I'm trying to say is- What happened the other night, Sasuke?"

"She asked-"

"Sasuke, even before she came in, I wanted to ask you. I was so worried when I found you like that a few days ago," she said as she looked at him, tears threatening to come out any moment.

"You were always one to cry so easily. I'm fine."

"Sasuke, that's not the point!"

"Then what is?" he snapped as he glared at her.

"Sasuke, listen to yourself. What happened that night got you seriously hurt. If it was outsiders that did it, the village could be in danger!" she said as she grabbed a hold of his collar, straddled him, and looked him in the eye.

"Hn."

"This is not something you can just brush off, Sasuke! This is an important matter!" she snapped. She got closer to his face, wanting to pound him until he told her what she wanted to know.

"You were that worried about me?" he queried. Sakura released her grip on his collar and looked at him as she sat on his hips, cocking her head to the side and looking at him oddly.

"Of course I was, Sasuke."

"Why?"

"What?"

"You answer why you care for me so much, and I'll tell you everything you want to know about four nights ago."

"Why I care?" she repeated.

"…" He looked at her.

"Sasuke, you're an idiot. I shouldn't have to tell you why I care so much, I told you about 12 years ago why I care."

"…" He raised an eyebrow.

"The reason why I care, is because…I love you," she said as she put her head on his chest, while he looked down to her, wide-eyed.

"…" He had no words for her. Her head just stayed on his chest, waiting for some sort of reply.

Sakura gave a low sigh and she was about to slide off him when she heard him start to speak. With this, Sakura's head snapped up and looked into his face, which was now looking outdoors.

"After I left you, I headed towards the third training ground just to think."

**

* * *

Flashback/Sasuke's POV

* * *

**_'Damn that infernal woman, I hate when she does this. What does she mean by that anyways. She knows I have other things on my mind…then again, maybe I can make room for-NO! I can't I have to keep my mind on killing Itachi. I can't let anyone not even her distract me from what I need to do!' _I thought as a slammed my fist into the tall wooden post in the third training ground. **

* * *

Flash back-within a flash back

* * *

**

There stood Kakashi looking down upon the graves of Haku and Zabuza. His words cut through the three students like a hot knife though butter. His words were disturbing but all so true.

"Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny. There's no point in wondering if its right or wrong. It just is. It's the same in the village hidden in the leaves." Naruto looked down at the ground and glared before speaking.

"If you ask me, if that's what being a ninja is all about, then things are outa wack. Is that why we go threw all this training just to end up like them."

"What is the reason for that?" I remember asking my self out loud not really noticing I said it to everyone else.

"Well…it's a question without an answer. And we ninja have to deal with that every day of our lives. Like Zabuza and the kid." Said Kakashi. I remember the exact look upon his face, of pain and sorrow and of wonder. Then the Dobe spoke.

"Ok, I've just come to a decision. From now on, im finding my own ninja way. A way that's straight and true without any regrets. From now on im following the way of Naruto." I remember those words even more clearly.

I often wondered if he could find a new way of the ninja. But then if anyone could it would be him. I used to think what he said back then, was maybe the right way to live. But then I would remember were ninja, you can't fight a battle without regret. Because no matter how many you kill, there will always be regret. It may go un noticed for years, but one day you'll find yourself thinking about that that and wonder who's husband, wife, child, son, daughter you killed. And that, will never go away. No matter what you do, there will always be regret when it comes to being a ninja especially Hokage.

* * *

Sakura looked at Sasuke blankly taking in everything she head. The only thing he hadn't told her about was the part about him crying over her. She was still sitting on his hips looking thoughtful. 

"He, he had to be lying…Naruto can't be dead…he-he can't be…it's Naruto," said Sakura as tears threatened to come out of her eyes.

"…" Sasuke merely pointed towards his pants.

She instantly got off from on top of him and walked towards his pants pocket and lifted up them only to find two things fall out. A single wallet and a small circle with two wooden pieces on either side and a whirlpool going though the circle part.

Sakura instantly fell to the ground and started to bawl. She had seen that symbol so many times in her life. But even though she didn't want to say it, she knew that Naruto was dead. As she sat there trembling, Sasuke slowly slid off the bed, still in severe pain, walked towards her, knelt down, and looked at her. She immediately latched onto him and started to cry into his chest as he rubbed her back. No tears fell down his face; nothing but a blank expression was there. As he looked down at the female, the reality of the situation hit him. Uzumaki Naruto was dead. His best friend, his teammate, his rival, was dead.

* * *

**Moogles Note  
-  
Moogle: OMG NO U DI'IN'T! Naru-chan is still alive. ;.; And did Yondy-Minato-chan fall through that black hole again? Oh, BTW, Akatsuki Leader Pein. For future reference instead of saying 'the leader' all the time.**

C-G  
-No I didnt kill Naruto. Please read and review and thank Moogle for doing this!!!!!!! sorry it took so long people, I just final;ly moved it, so happyness...grade 11 is so easy...


	13. Pein

**Chapter 12: Pein**

**

* * *

**There sat an orange haired man as he gazed out into the abyss that surrounded him, his eyes constantly looking around as if to find some sort of an answer to which he didn't know. Footsteps could be heard from behind him, but he made no movement as to go look to see who it was. The steps died out and his head stayed the same; looking out into nothingness. 

"We're back," said a man from behind an orange mask as he looked towards the orange haired man.

"Where's the Kyuubi?" he asked as he finally looked back to see Tobi and Itachi.

"Well, you see-"

"Dead," said Itachi as he looked at the man.

"Dead. You weren't supposed to kill him," said the man as he instantly got up and glared at the two.

"Why did you say he was dead? He isn't-"

"He got away from you, and you decided to tell me he's dead! You two are-"

"Pein, that is enough. Let them explain themselves," said an aqua haired woman as she appeared out of no where.

"…" he just stayed silent.

"As leader, you do it. We will not accept failure from you. If you are the leader, prove yourself by capturing the Kyuubi," stated Itachi while looking at the taller man before him.

"What did you just-"

"There would be no point in getting him anyway. He is useless now."

"You will not interrupt me. What do you mean he is of no further use?"

"All his chakra cells have been disconnected. I am unsure if it was intentional or not, but either way, we won't be able to extract the Kyuubi if he does not have any chakra connections."

"I see. But we can't have him walking around. He has to be disposed of."

"He went across the ocean," stated Tobi as he looked at the man.

"Perfect," smiled the man.

"…" The two raven haired men looked confused as to why the leader was saying such things.

"That means, the village hidden in the leaves' strongest weapon is now gone. We now have the advantage over them."

"How so?" asked Tobi.

"Easy, we have all our containers ready. All we need to do now is to get them to release there true form and we will win. Each of you will take on of the eight children to each hidden village. And then release them to their true forms and we will have the advantage over them. Once we have control over the ninja villages, we will take over the rest of the world. And if you ask why, it is because without the Kyuubi. We can not continue on with our greatest technique. So instead we will improvise. " Smiled the Pein, but an obvious amount of venom dripped from his voice. As he told his plan to the remainder of Akatsuki. Hologram versions were shown to the remaining 6 members.

"Who will go to what village?"

"Itachi and I will go to the village hidden in the leaves. Tobi will go to sand. And you there can decide for your selves on whom you will attack. But once you are finished come to the assist of us at leaf. We will attack them last. Knowing that they will send out reinforcements to other villages in need of help there numbers will decrease. That's when we will attack" Smiled Pein as he walked past the three standing there and entered a dark and dreary room.

"The ninjas in leaf have been informed."

"About what?" Asked Pein as he gazed questioningly at the man in the shadows.

"Uzumaki Naruto has died."

"It doesn't matter, even if or when he returns the village hidden in the leaves. It will be gone" Smiled Pein as he sat across from the hidden man.

* * *

Sakura stared blankly out the window at her apartment. It had been over two weeks now since the village had been informed of Uzumaki Naruto's death. She hadn't spoken to anyone or seen anyone since the day Sasuke had told her. Her students had tried to come see her, but she refused to come out or speak. They had known their whole lives that becoming a ninja would mean you would lose many friends. But strangely, the whole entire ninja community in leaf had gone quiet. Hinata hadn't gone back to the school; she stayed locked in her room. The old rookie nine were all depressed, while the younger generation was at a loss of what to think about the entire situation. It had seemed that the death of Uzumaki Naruto was as depressing as if one of the Hokage had died.

Sakura sat on her window sill looking out into the village remembering every place in which Naruto had been, who he had talked to what they had done. They hadn't really had a funeral for the blonde haired boy because there was nothing to bury. His apartment was impossible to get into it had so many different kinds of seals that he had made. So there was no way to enter the same had gone for the fourths out. It had seemed Jiraiya had placed the seals on the year before for an unknown reason. The Hokage on the other had seemed at a loss. She was drinking more, work was getting matter by the second and for a while she seemed to have disappeared.

Sakura hadn't seen Sasuke, she was sure he had tried to get into her apartment but she had locked it up so no one could bother her. Sakura gazed out the window to see the happy townspeople walking along like they did every single day. To them it was just another fallen ninja, to the ninja it was like loosing a family member.

As she gazed across the room she noticed the head protector he had worn. It was still as shiny as the day he had gotten it maybe a few more small scratches but that was normal. She silently walked over to it and lifted it up and examined it she held it close to her as she collapsed onto the ground and started to cry. She held the small thing close to her heart as tears stringed down her face. She didn't want to believe it but she knew it was true, the only way for them to get close enough to get his wallet was to go through his pockets and the emblem on his arm. Naruto would never let them take that away from them. Sakura then heard a silent knock on her window, she had forgot it had been open just as she turned her tear streaked face around Sasuke landed next to her looking down at her.

"Sakura…" He said as he looked at her with worry in his eyes, until he noticed the small head protector in her grasp.

"…"She started to rub her eyes and sniff.

"You have to stop. It isn't good for you to be locked in here all the time" He stated as he took it from her and placed it upon her night stand while looking at it for a while before looking down at his own the one with the giant gash though the centre.

"But, I miss him. I just can't-"

"Come on" He said instantly as he forced her up to her feet and dragged her out her window and onto the street.

"…" She stayed silent as she started to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

She wasn't wearing her normal cloths. Only a pair of black shorts her ninja sandals and a red tank top like she had normally wore on her days off. This time Sasuke hadn't mind so much because it was so hot out that it didn't look like she was just dressed because she wanted to show some skin.

Sasuke dragged her further down the street till he let go of her hand and they started to walk side by side. She looked down towards her feet still in depression. They had passed Lee, and Ten-Ten walking one way; they had smiled and waved. But Sakura made no move to wave back while Sasuke just didn't do anything and look past them and kept walking forward.

"Where are we going?" Questioned Sakura as she walked next to Sasuke.

"…" He didn't reply but kept walking forward.

* * *

_"Where are we going?" _

"_Hey_, wasn't that Sakura-sensei's voice?" Asked Midori as she spun her head around from the Ramen she had been eating to see a red eyes female walk past with Sasuke by her side.

"It was, well at least she aint home crying" Said Yukio as he finished his bowl.

"Be more thoughtful. It's a very hard time on them right now, on all the ninjas who knew Naruto. How would you feel if Midori died" Said Ayame as she passed him another bowl.

"I guess I would be sad to…" he said truthfully as Midori blushed.

"Hey, Ayame…where's Kakashi?" Asked Midori. That's when she noticed Ayame freeze and then look away.

"Kakashi is…I don't know he hasn't been home for the last week." She said truthfully as she looked away.

"He was their sensei wasn't he…?"

"Yes."

"You know something, I've been wondering. Why is it that every adult in this village is morning over Uzumaki Naruto so much. I've never seen anything like it. It was as if the Hokage her self had died" Said Yukio.

"Because, when Uzumaki Naruto died. It was as if the Hokage did die. It was his dream to be respected by our village and become the greatest Hokage ever and surpass all the other Hokages especially the fourth. Everyone who has made contact with Naruto even his enemies have instantly become their friends. That was his gift. So when he died, his dream had died too. That is why we try so hard to protect those close to us. And when were to far away to protect the ones we love, it hurts even more" Said Hinata as she looked down at the table. As she grasped onto her chop sticks a bit hard. The three hadn't even noticed her sitting there.

"So why is it people die for others…?" Asked Mazy as he looked up to see Kakashi standing there in the door way. His one eye looked lost and depressed. His skin was paler, and his eyes were unfocused.

"Naruto once asked the exact same question at the third Hokages funeral." He stated.

"…" The four stayed silent.

"When a person dies…he disappears…along with his past, current life style, and his future." stated Kakashi as he gave a grim smile towards his wife.

"Many people die in missions and in wars. They die easily and in surprisingly simple ways." he then added.

"Those who die have goals and dreams. But everyone has something as important as those. Parents, sibling, friends, lovers…people who are important to you." his voice dragged on.

"They trust and help each other." Said Hinata, her chop sticks silently breaking in half.

"The bond between people important to you ever since birth…and the string that bonds them becomes thicker and stronger as time goes by. It's beyond reason. Those bound to you by that string will do that. Because it's important……" He finished.

"I think I understand somewhat now" Said Mazy.

"But…it's painful when someone dies." Added Hinata as she placed her money on the counter and left.

* * *

"Sasuke. Where are we going?" Asked Sakura as she followed the Uchiha around all day. The sun was starting to set when he led them into the bar.

"Hello Sasuke, back _again_ tonight I see. And brought your girlfriend this time?" Smiled the bartender as he led her to the booth in the corner of the room and ordered a few bottles of sake.

"So. This is where you've been?"

"Hn" He said as he pushed aside the cup and started to drink out of the bottle while Sakura did the same.

"I've never seen you drink," she added as she looked at the man who was now on his third.

"Hn" as he drank some more.

"He's been here every night for the last two weeks" Said the bar keeper.

"You mean to tell me you've been drinking away your misery?"

"Better then staying all alone at home like you do every single night. At least I get out"

"And get **drunk**"

"…" He gave her a nasty look and continued to drink.

"So, is this how you're going to be every night?"

"No"

"Why did you invite me alone?"

"To make sure I don't do anything stupid"

"What?" She said while taking a sip.

"Last night I almost drowned. Konohamaru saved me" He said half ashamed as he drank another bottle.

"But how in the world…"

"I wanted to go for a swim"

"…."

"That's why you're here tonight"

"Why not-"

"I trust you over everyone else."

"Sasuke…"

"Hn"

"How long do you plan on staying"

"Don't know" He said as he drank more, while Sakura ordered a few more and had some her self.

* * *

"He's been in there for over an hour…" Said the bar keeper.

"I'll get him" said Sakura. It was around 3:33 am. And Sakura almost fell over realizing she shouldn't have had so much sake. As she entered the men's washroom there was Sasuke sat on the floor looking at the water in the bowl of the toilet go round and round as he flushed it.

"Sasuke?"

"…" He looked at her then at the bowl.

"Come on, lest go home. You're obviously drunk"

"No. I'm not" he said as she helped him up to his feet while leaving the men's room and Sasuke's wallet with the right amount of money owed.

"_Says_ the man who was watching the toilet water…"

"That _sounds_ like **sarcasm**. Are you being _sarcastic_ with me, Sakura? I'm an Uchiha. The Uchiha's practically _invented_ sarcasm." he stated as he looked at her.

"Even like this, no offence Sakura, but even drunk off my ass I can still take you in a fight."

"Says the man who was interested in the spinning water and the flushing noises a few minutes ago. Know what, I don't care you can get your own way home for all I care" She yelled as she let go of him and started to walk away when he grabbed onto her wrist and made her look at him as his legs shook.

"Sakura…"

"What?"

"Don't be like that please…" He said as he pushed his lips onto hers.

"Sasuke…" She said as she held her lips as he moved away from her.

"Come over to my place." He stated as he moved his hands along her body.

"You hold on to that thought for tomorrow when you're not drunk. Then we'll see what happens ok?" She said as she moved away from him. Knowing what he wanted from her.

"I'm being serious. It will only be harder tomorrow when I'm not drunk."

"Sasuke…please you just drunk" She said as she moved away knowing she was quite drunk at the moment to. But for some reason her common sense stayed with her. Sasuke made that '_annoyed face_,' the one that was usually followed by a disapproving noise.

"But it's all I think about when you're this close. . ." He stated, as he held onto her again.

"W-what…"

"Come…" He said as he walked through his front door of his house and all the way to the back. Sakura stared around in shock, not realizing they had already made it back to his place.

"Sasuke, wait…your not think-" And with that he pushed her against his bedroom door and started to kiss her, while slowly feeling his way up her back.

"You talk too much" He stated while he opened the bedroom door. And entered while closing it quickly and moving over towards the bed.

"But-" Then everything she told her self she wouldn't do wasn't paying attention anymore. As he started to trail kisses down her jaw then to her neck and then to where her shirt started and began to suck on the skin above her chest. Sakura then let out a moan as Sasuke smirked.

"Hn"

* * *

Sun rays shot through the slightly opened window.

Sakura gave a stifled moan as she moved over so the sun wouldn't hit her eyes only to have an arm hold onto her as she tried to move around. Her eyes instantly snapped open as she looked behind her shoulder to see Sasuke with his head nestled in the back of her neck. While is arm rapped around her body, that's when she realized they were both naked. She held the blanket close to her trying to remember what happened the night before. And when she had, only a faint blush remained.

Sakura then tried to move his arm away from her stomach slowly as if not to wake him up. But at that point his eyes shot open to looking to see pink hair and the arm of the female trying to get him to let go of her.

"_Hn_. Stay here" He said as he pulled her closer to his chest and cuddled into the back of her neck.

"B-But…"

"Just sleep."

"About last night"

"Sleep"

"But I-"

"Sakura. Go back to sleep"

"I can't."

"I _may_ regret asking. But why?"

"It's about last night. What-well you know…"

"**Sakura**. Go. Back. To. Sleep." Sasuke stated as he tried to get his few hours more in.

"I can't just forget that it didn't happen Sasuke, I'm not like-" And with that, Sakura was on her back and underneath him. He was looking into her eyes with a lazy yet stern glare.

"Not like me? Sakura. Who said I _wanted_ to forget about last night?" He said as he leaned closer and started to kiss her neck.

"B-But…"

"There's no _but_ in it Sakura. What happened last night-"

"**SASUKE SENSEI!**" Yelled a very pissed off sounding Yukio.

"…" they both stayed silent as they heard the foot steps coming closer.

"I'm starting to hate him" said Sasuke as he got off Sakura and grabbed his pants that were on the floor and started to walk towards the door and opened then closed it quickly.

Sakura stayed lying under the thin sheets, wondering what Sasuke was about to say. As she turned to her side and covered up her entire body she decided to get some more sleep like Sasuke told her to. As she was about to close her eyes she started to overhear the two arguing.

* * *

"…" Sasuke closed the door to his room extremely quickly as finished fixing his pants and looking at Yukio. The long, blonde haired boy didn't look too impressed with the raven haired man in front of him.

"Where the hell is she!"

"Who." stated Sasuke, rather then a question.

"**Sakura Sensei! **You never brought her home last night! **WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER**?" Yelled the blonde.

"Hn."

"She's in _there_ isn't she!" said Yukio as he pointed to the door, a look of disgust was written across his face.

"Hn." He just looked down at the boy.

"I knew it! She's in there! You better not have harmed her!"

"Hn."

"LET ME THROUGH!"

"No."

"….What"

"You have no business in going into my room. Or into my house uninvited. You had a mission today didn't you? So why are you here? Shouldn't you be getting ready" Stated Sasuke.

But he was then attacked by about 5 water clones from above. He had let his guard down around the blonde. As Sasuke easily got rid of him he saw Yukio grab the sliding door handle and throw open the door. Sasuke then jumped up and grabbed the boy by his shoulders and looked in the room expecting to see a naked Sakura on the bed. But found noting in there. But a few messed up sheets on the bed.

"Are you satisfied?" Asked Sasuke as he dragged the blonde out of his room and glared at him.

"Where the hell is she then?" He yelled.

"Don't know. Did you check Ino's or Hinata's or even the hospital?"

"…"

"She isn't here. You're going to be late"

"…Hn." muttered Yukio as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"…" Sasuke then let out a sigh as he opened the door to see Sakura sitting on the edge of his bed, her back completely exposed to his eyes. He looked at her confusingly wondering how she had appeared there. When he realized she must have used a Genjutsu.

"…" She stayed silent. She could hear Sasuke walk closer towards her and then sit down next to her on the bed.

"Hn"

"Sasuke…"

"Hn" Was his only reply as he put his head upon hers.

"Do you like me, or was last night just-"

"I thought I made it clear to you Sakura."

"What clear?" She asked as she looked over to him.

"Hn. Why do you think I always hung around with you? And why do you think that I didn't get close to you when you were going out with the spandex freak? Do you think I would just sleep with any woman?"

"…The _spandex freak_ does have a name" She said as she gave a small smile. And felt Sasuke give a smirk from the top of her head.

"I don't know what these feelings towards you are Sakura. But-"

"Ok. I understand…a little"

"…" He just stayed silent.

"Sasuke…"

"…"

"Where are my clothes?"

"…" He didn't even reply, remembering that her clothes were scattered around the room.

"Sasuke?"

"Don't know…everywhere."

"…Everywhere?"

"Yeah."

She gave a low sigh. "I see. Well hurry up and get me some of your clothes. I'm not wearing my sake-scented clothes today." She stated as she nodded her head. While he looked at her blankly.

Then forcing Sasuke to stand up and go through his very large closet to find her something. He then threw to her an over large shirt that he wore every day, along with her underwear. He stood there looking at her for a minute until she gave him a stern glare meaning _if you don't get out right now I'll force you out. _

* * *

Sasuke left his room while pulling on his netted shirt then his black one that normally went over it. As he wandered down the hall towards the kitchen he could swear he heard someone close to him. As he slightly looked over his shoulder with his Sharingan activated he looked around only to see Sakura's form moving around and changing. He then thought it was his imagination until her heard a very load scream.

Sasuke then dropped the mug he was once holding onto the ground and instantly appeared in front of his room to see Yukio standing there pointing at Sakura who was holding the shirt to her body and breathing deeply. Yukio on the other hand now had a huge blush across his face as he looked at his former sensei.

"I-I-I…You and him…B-But…" He started as he stuttered and that's when Sasuke grabbed the blonde by the shoulder and threw him as hard as he could out of his room.

Sasuke then grabbed his sword from the wall were he had put it and walked over to his on-sheathing it, while dangerously looking at the blonde. Sakura then realized he was about to either seriously damage the poor teen or kill him. Either or she couldn't have that happen. She then instantly pulled the overly large shirt over her head and her small black tight shorts and quickly dashing out from his room and rushing over to Sasuke just as he was about to cut the poor boy she latched herself onto his back.

"**Stop**!" She demanded as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck while using chakra to keep herself on, so no matter what he did, she wouldn't just fall off.

"Get. Off. Sakura." Said Sasuke as he glared at her with blood red eyes.

"**NO! **I will not have you harming a single hair upon his blonde head. Remember Sasuke if you slip up once you will be sentenced to _death_ instantaneously." She said so only he could hear her.

"I. Don't. Care. He-"

"Sasuke…saying you don't care hurts me way more then him seeing me half naked. If you were to just die like that…I don't what I'd do. I already lost you once. I will not lose you again because of your hard-headedness," she said as he then felt tears landing on his shoulder and soaking through his shirt.

"Sakura-"

"If you were to go again, I'd be all alone again. Knowing that I'd never be able to see you again would hurt too much. And this time…_Naruto_ wouldn't be here with me." she said as she cried into his back some more.

"…" Sasuke stayed silent as he put his sword back into the sheath and felt Sakura slowly lose her grip and slide off his back.

Her tears were still there. Yukio had gone by now, taking the opportunity that Sakura gave him to leave. At that point, he was glad to. As everyone knows, Sasuke was one of the most emotionless people ever. So as he turned around to face Sakura, he looked down at her before sighing and then instantly pulled her into a hug, causing the pink haired female to stiffen, then relax.

"Sakura. I won't leave. You have my word."

"…" Her eyes widened as she looked up to him.

"…"

"I-"

"I _think_ I love you," he said truthfully as a small blush appeared on his face.

"Sasuke," she said as she held onto him closely. _'I think…that's probably the best he can do anyways. I shouldn't expect much. It must have been hard for him to even admit that. For now…that's all I could ever ask for'_ Thought Sakura as she felt him hold her closer.

"Come on. You're freezing," stated Sasuke as he grabbed her hand and started towards the house.

* * *

"They haven't made a move yet."

"Not for the last _three months _since-"

"_Naruto_. Yeah I know."

"Is it possible they can't finish their goal without the Kyuubi?"

"Yes and no. It's true they did in fact need it. But they can also use their plan B, I just with I knew what it was. It was more of a **want.**"

"A want?"

"Yes. Since Kyuubi was the strongest of all the tailed beasts, it would have been to their advantage to obtain the creature. As well complete their ultimate Jutsu. But plans change…"

"But why have they stayed hidden? What's their purpose?"

"Who knows. I haven't heard from any of the surrounding villages about any men in black."

"You don't think…"

"What?"

"Their definitely planning something big. And we have to be ready for it."

"…"

"They have how many members left now?"

"From my data they have six members left. Including their leader."

"I see."

"They also have eight of the nine tailed beasts"

"Hm. Wait!"

"What?"

"That must be it!"

"What must be it! Tsunade?"

"There are 5 great ninja villages. And there are six members meaning that four members will go off to attack the main four villages while two will remain and attack the strongest village. Could that be a plan B?"

"That would be bad for us. Of the five great ninja villages we are, as to say, the strongest"

"I know that. **Shizune**!"

"Yes!"

"Make sure we have surveillance all the time around the villages walls. I want to up our guards and make sure all the Jounin are on high alert. As well, send letters to each Kage and inform them. Do you understand?"

"Inform them of what, Lord Hokage?"

"Akatsuki is planning something large, and to prepare themselves. We're all on our own for this one, and tell them no one can afford to send out any ninja from any surrounding village."

"Yes!" said the woman as she instantly dashed out of the office.

"Do you think that's enough?"

"That's all we have. As for now, we are left in the dark, as to say on what is going to happen."

"It's still hard to believe."

"Hm?" questioned the woman as she stirred her bottle of sake.

"About the kid. He was the last person I'd expect to be gone."

"Yes. Unfortunately the council seems overly happy over Naruto's-"

"But, I just can't help thinking they may have been-"

"They had enough evidence. And I highly doubt they'd lie to us. What would be the point?"

"I know, but-"

"Jiraiya, I can't imagine what it must be like for you right now to lose another student."

"…Maybe your right. It's probably just me and my old way of thinking outside the box."

"I'm at a rock in the road now. One I can't seem to get over"

"The council again?"

"Yes. They seem to be very pleased with Naruto gone, but they fail to understand the seriousness of this."

"Speaking of council…"

"…"

"Tsunade. You may look young. But as far as you and I go…were getting old. And you have less years then I do as of now. What- Or better yes, did you pick the person for the title of sixth Hokage yet?"

"Age has no limits. You're only as young as you feel. It doesn't matter what the outside looks like."

"Tsunade…"

A heavy sigh could be heard from the female as she placed her empty flask on the old wooden desk. "I know, I know where your going with this. I have felt the years creep up just as much as you have maybe a bit more. But to answer your question"

"…"

"No. **I **haven't picked a person for the title of sixth Hokage"

"Tsunade…you can't just push this aside. What happens if you were to die and the council-"

"Just because **I** said **I** never picked the next person for Hokage. Doesn't mean _he_ didn't"

"He? You don't mean…"

"I left that decision up to him. Since he died before he could choose I thought it best to let him decide."

"You let the fourth pick? He never really had a good judgment on choosing people, no matter what you think"

"Yes. But, the difference is he had to go to me with his final decision," smiled Tsunade as she looked at Jiraiya.

"Who was it? Who will become the sixth Hokage?"

"…" She said nothing as she looked to the pile of papers on her desk and then to the window on her left and gave a small smile.

"…" Leaving poor Jiraiya lost. Unknown of who would become the next Hokage. He'd have to wait until that time.

"And if I were to die before I give my title away."

"Tsunade…"

"It's only and if. In our world its hard to say if I'll live that long or not. But, there is a scroll behind the third bookshelf in the Fourth Hokage's home with the request of who will become the next Kage"

"The Fourth's? But it's impossible to even go in there."

"Hm." She kept her eyes on the outside world, knowing something the rest did not.

* * *

**Canadain-Girl**

**Moogle:** _Such a bad beta…;.;. Damn you, education! Damn you!!  
…XD Uchihas invented sarcasm._

**Canadain-Girl:** _No, no your not. I know school has been insane so far. It's starting to creep up on me now. I'm absolutely dreading next semester…That's when I start all my core courses….Ick. The study one's anyways's._

_Hahaha yes, the Uchiha's invented or practically did apparently._

_-Anyways thank you very much Moogle for your awesome Beta job upon this chapter. Including it was like eighteen page's long. The next one sadly won't be as long. And just a heads up….I will be sorry to upset you all. But there will only be eighteen chapters in this story. I have finally finished the last chapter… so sad. I know._

_- Any way's please review! And no flames please._


	14. Conflicting Thoughts

**Chapter 13: Conflicting Thoughts**

**-Ok, so much has happened in the Manga since my last up-date. I know lame sorry…but you know…my beta was busy I thought it mean to keep bugging her. So if anyone has any free time. Im willing to let you try and help me, that's if you wish to…anyways it will be different then the Managa.**

* * *

Cold Water, plus a minus twelve degree day does not make a certain _want to be Hokage _a very happy person. Naruto stood there under the cold rushing waters of the great water fall of Mizu country. His entire body had been frozen still. He was very sure, even positive that the man that was _supposed _to be helping him with training had forgotten about him. It had been three days since he had started standing there. Only wearing the first Hokage's necklace and a pair of shorts. He was sure they would soon freeze solid to his skin if not already frozen.

"Hey. _Boy_?" yelled a tall dread lock wearing old man, wearing from what Naruto figured was a dress.

Naruto slowly glanced over to the man who was walking out of the trees caring what seemed to be **his **bag, and an oddly miss shaped purple apple.

"..." Naruto didn't even try to speak, it wasn't because he couldn't. It was because he started to hate the man whom had been helping him. All Naruto could figure was that all he had done was feed him, and put two patches upon his stomach and chest cavity.

"Boy. Did you hear me, _yeah_?" he yelled once more in the direction of the blonde, while placing down the blondes bag and biting into the apple.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW COLD THIS IS?!" yelled the out ragged blonde as he shot death glares at the man whom learned against the tree.

"Yeah man. I do. But, unlike you. I usually spend about '_tree_' minutes every day under that water fall. Just as I told yeah to do, yeah."

"...You told me three **days**...and three has an **H** in it! you old lunatic" yelled the blonde.

"Did I? Sorry yeah, meant to tell yeah tree minutes, so that the shock of the water will prepare you to understand the pain you will undertake. When that is I bring your chakra cells back from the dead, yeah. Not to kill, yeah instead. Yeah."

"They weren't dead! You old bastard." muttered the blonde as he still stood under the water.

"Come out now, and people call me nuts...I thought yeah ran away or died somewhere."

"So three days later you decide to come look for me..." said Naruto in an even and flat emotionless tone as he glared at the man as he slowly stepped out of the water.

"You _know_, your the _second_ person I forgot about. But at least I saw your bag yesterday. And knew you were around someplace. So...I decided to spend the whole day at the beach and met some old friends...then went home, I just started to look for yeah about five minutes ago."

Tthe blonde looked blankly at the man before him, then reached down and grabbed his bag and slowly started to change into warm and dry clothes. While rubbing his face against them in pure bliss to touch something warm.

"Your free to go, yeah. I've done all I can, just take four pills everyday, at least until till yeah run out...around the tenth, yeah. And yeah should be back to your normal self...or at least what _you_ call normal, yeah."

"Why am I just taking these now-" but before the blonde could finish the last few words. The man before him thrust his two palms into the blondes chest and stomach releasing his sealing Justu, he had placed over the fourths.

Naruto toppled over as he felt pain rush through his body like a foreign object. Chakra started to spew from very part of the blondes chakra cells, the red chakra was slowly but surly starting to take over. He was soon crying from the pain that he felt, and was wishing that it would go away. While the man before him just got up and started to walk away.

"_Just remember. All you have to do in life man, is die_." said he, as he disappeared into the darkness that started to engulf around him.

His long tied up hair swayed slightly as he walked away. He was starting to add more bones and beads to it as each second passed. Leaving the blonde alone in darkness while suffering in agonizing pain. Unknown to him, that would be the last time he'd ever speak or see the man again.

* * *

Sakura gave a soft giggle as she felt her body be instantly pressed against the kitchen wall of the Haruno house hold. You see, Sasuke had just got home from the two month mission and was in dire need of some relaxation. _(The kind that involved a bed)_

Sakura gave a witty smile as Sasuke gave her a cold glare for laughing when he was trying to get her to the bedroom, or the couch. At that moment he didn't really care. But alas the young Uchiha would just have to wait, because at that moment came a very loud cough came from none other then Mrs. Haruno, Sakura's mother. Who had been watching Sasuke as he felt up her daughter.

Sasuke went instantly still, while Sakura laughed once again in dire amusement, and quickly ducked under his outstretched arms, and walked towards her mother and grab one of the two bags and bring it into the kitchen. Sasuke looked blankly at the wall, then glared at it before realizing his pink haired female wasn't there anymore. As he slowly turned around, he met the pale green eyes of Sakura's mother.

"_Sakura..._You could do **soo** much better" stated her mother as she circled the Uchiha like a hawk circling its prey.

"...Yes, yes...wait...**MOTHER**!" said an outraged pink haired female as she dropped a can on the counter.

"Well dear, he is handsome...but-"

"But what?" questioned Sakura as she stood in front of Sasuke, examining him like her mother. While he glared at them both. Uncomfortable under their gaze.

"He's...well...an _ice cube_, yes...an ice cube" stated her mother as she smiled triumphantly.

"_Ice cube…_" stated Sasuke as he shot a glare towards the woman before him, only to receive one from Sakura.

"Yes. Exactly, you have no emotions. The only thing you do have is your looks, other then that...you have nothing." she stated very matter of flatly as she hit the dish rap she had been holding into her palm.

"He does so have emotions!" defended Sakura as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Hatred, and the love for a siblings death doesn't count, dear" stated the elder woman as she looked sternly to the young woman beside her. While Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"**Mother! **he has more emotions then just for the love of hatred."

"Such as?"

"Umm...He has..." thought Sakura aloud as she placed a hand under her chin as she tried to think.

"Sakura" said Sasuke plainly, as he looked at the two. A faint blush was starting to creep onto his face.

"What?" said the two females as the looked at him. While a blush appeared more apparent on his features and looked away.

"_Love_ for Sakura"

"..." the two females stayed silent as they looked at him.

"**I knew you loved her**! Or why else would you stay with her, when you used to think she was so annoying." smiled the dark pink grey streaked haired woman.

"Body" stated the two 24 year olds at once. While the elder woman rolled her eyes, threw her hands into the air and left them alone.

* * *

"So, Kakashi. What have you been thinking about lately? You asked me to come here for a right reason. Right?" questioned Jirayia as he looked at Kakashi as they stood by the memorial stone, located behind the third training ground.

"Why..." stated Kakashi as he looked more intently at the stone.

"Why? I asked you the question... And I receive one in return. You were always an odd one, you and Obito."

"...Why was it, you told us to call him Arashi?" asked the silver haired male, as his eyes never left the stone.

"...What do you mean?" said the elder man, his voice hesitant.

"His name wasn't _Arashi_, not from what I can remember...so why did we call him that after his death?"

"I've often wondered when someone would ask me that very question, Kakashi." smiled Jiriaya slightly as he looked towards him.

"..." Kakashi looked up, and towards the elder man.

"It was to protect the village, and most importantly. _Naruto._"

"Naruto?"

"You've noticed, haven't you? It's to much of a coincidence any other way"

Kakashi lowered his eyes as he went into a deep thinking process, as he tried to figure out what Naruto had to do with it. Then his head instantly snapped up and looked at Jiraiya. His eyes wide. Many un answered questions had just been answered in that very moment. He looked paler now then he had before. Eyes never leaving jiriaya's face.

"I see, you've figured it out. You knew his mother, didn't you Kakashi."

"Yes, she was extremely beautiful, from what I can remember"

"You remember seeing those old photo's Minato had given Naruto, I am correct? We had to use genjutsu over them as not to alert everyone. Because knowing the idiot, he'd have shown everyone."

"But...sensei never had-"

"Think about it, your one of the smartest people in our village. He has his exact looks, and his personality to succeed at anything he puts his mind towards, and the ability to believe in himself when the world seems to shut him out. But he also has her inside of him, I'm sure you've noticed. Her unlevelled headedness, to always see the good in people. And her over exuberant amount of energy."

"Tell me Kakashi-" continued Jiriaya.

"When did you first notice the resemblance"

"Resemblance...but he never had-"

"..." the man before him smiled.

"...The first time would have been when I was training Naruto when he had been 15 years old."

"I noticed far beyond that. Back when I first met him when he caught be doing research. And then after I started to train him, it was like training Minato all over again. Just with more energy and stamina...and _less _brains. There were times I caught my self almost speaking his name instead of Naruto's."

"Why was it a secret from us his students...no, the village?"

"It wasn't. You just never bothered to of asked. You were a weird _freakish_ child. A loner I guess. And it wasn't really a major secret, just all the people that would have known are either dead or MIA. The older ones like the Hokage and I know. No one from the younger generation."

"Does Naruto know?"

"...I've wondered that myself. I never bothered to ask if he knew his parents or not. It just never came up. But I don't think he knew his father, he found out who his mother was, or...was what we appeared her to be his mother."

"...I see"

"It's to late now anyways. I mean he's gone now, there's no actual answer to that question. Even if there was. We'd never know, I'm not sure it's something he would spread around so fast. I mean, would you?"

"No. But that's me, Naruto is-"

"Different? I know. But, I don't think it's something one would be able to accept right away."

"_'Until I become Hokage I won't die_.'"

"What, you have that dream too? Just to let you know, you have the best advantage for that title then anyone here in the village right now anyways..."

"No, that's what Naruto said once. He'd swore he'd become Hokage before he'd die."

"Yes, well...I guess that didn't come true now did it?" said Jiriaya as he traced his fingers of the name of Uzumaki Naruto on the carved cool stone.

"If he had died, I'm sure his ghost would be haunting us right now."

"He's to afraid of ghosts to become one" chuckled Jiriaya as Kakashi looked towards the names of his various comrades. Then pulled out his latest book of Ichy Ichy paradise.

* * *

"Sasuke..." said Sakura in a mild tone, as they walked through his house towards the kitchen.

"What is it now..." said a frustrated Uchiha.

"Why haven't you left yet?" she asked in a silent voice, almost a whisper.

She had stopped walking by this point, Sasuke spun around and looked at her with a mild confused look plastered upon his face. _(Such as the one when he was stuck in the ground in Kakashi's bell test and Sakura appeared out of the bushes. And he looked at her. Was such a good episode...)_

"...That came out wrong, I mean to go after Itachi?"

"This time, I'll be the one laying in wait for him. I'll have the upper hand this time..."

"But, I know you were going to say something else, what is it?" pestered Sakura as she gazed into Sasuke's eyes.

"The only person that was stronger then me, is no longer in the village. And if I could have just defeated him, then I know I could beat Itachi" stated Sasuke, fire burning deep within his eyes.

"Yours talking about Naruto, aren't you?" asked Sakura, her voice small.

"..." he stayed silent as he looked out through the open window in the hallway.

"Then, why not train with Jiriaya?"

"What would be the point?"

"Because he taught the fourth, and then he taught Naruto. Which would mean he's the strongest right? To teach two of the leafs finest ninja...well...for Naruto...umm...ok, one of leafs greatest ninja. Right? So why not train with him?" questioned Sakura, knowing what she was saying held logic.

"It doesn't really work that way Sakura. Each generation shall always surpass the next. It's a never changing cycle."

"..." she tilted her head in confusion.

"Take Kakashi for example, in a fair battle its hard to say who'd win in that situation. Kakashi is stronger then Jiriaya, and weaker then the fourth. But, he's truthfully admitted if he was in a fair battle with Naruto, he wouldn't win."

"So...the fourth would have been the prime person to battle?" asked Sakura as they walked out of the hall and to the outside where rain splattered against the roof above.

"The fourth and Naruto, they would be considered in a different category altogether." Stated Sasuke looking out into the rain.

"Why?"

"_Because_ they're to much alike, they have almost all the same exact techniques. And if they were in a fair battle the out come would be obvious"

"The fourth would win right?"

"No. Just the opposite, Naruto would win. But, if he were to fight against Jiriaya. He'd probably loose. The outcome would be unknown"

"Why? I mean if he's stronger then Kakashi...and Kakashi's stronger then Jiriaya then-"

"Because Jiriaya is old, not that the stupid idiot would go easy. Just the opposite he'd go harder and use more chakra, because only the idiot knows all the old mans techniques, which would lead to his downfall because he'd try to avoid them and end up getting his plan back fired"

"Ok, then what about me?" questioned Sakura, stopping to look at Sasuke.

"Your kidding, right?" said Sasuke as he gave an amused look to the pink haired female behind him.

"No I am not. I'm stronger then most of the ninja here, so why not fight me?"

"In brute strength, I wouldn't last five minutes. In actual ninjutsu and genjutsu combat. You'd loose the fastest." Stated Sasuke smugly.

"Hey!" retorted Sakura, offended.

"I'm only stating the facts. And your not at the same level as Naruto. If I had any hope in beating Itachi Naruto would be the one to defeat. But Itachi would beat Naruto. The only other strongest person here. That means Itachi was stronger then Naruto, which means...I have to beat Itachi no matter what. I can't have any distractions..."

"But..."

"Naruto was at a major disadvantage. He sucks at genjutsu, and the only thing...well not only thing. But the best thing Itachi is good at is genjutsu."

"..." Sasuke looked at her blankly before reflecting on what she said, realizing he was right.

"While you might not have as much stamina and chakra as Naruto did. You at least are good at Genjutsu. Which is good news for you right?"

"And let me remind you. Naruto, couldn't use chakra that time. But...you can" stated Sakura plainly as she reached her hand out to touch the rain.

* * *

Naruto's nails dug deep into the earths solid cold ground as he gripped a tree branch with his right hand for support. Pain struck his whole entire body, he tried to repress his red chakra as hard as he possibly could. Only to feel his body slowly slipping away into his minds own darkness.

"Damn it, that fuc- wait...where the hell am I!!" said the panicky blonde as he gazed around the damp and dark hallway.

"It never seems to change around here. Why is it so creepy..." he asked himself aloud as he started down the familiar hallway, which he knew all to well.

The fox was laying down, his head on the ground between his two massive front legs. Red chakra seemed to fill the room, it stung the blonde as he entered, he could feel it burning his lungs with each breath he took.  
The fox hadn't seemed to notice the blondes presence, yet anyways. So as Naruto got closer his heart started to race faster then it ever had. Then instantly the massive head arose from its spot, the eyes fixated upon the blonde boy instantly and looked at him with his bitter sweet sadistic grin as he sat up behind the locked bars of his cell.

"SO YOU CAME BACK! WHAT IS IT YOU WANT? CHAKRA AGIAN?" demanded the fox as he looked at the blonde.

"No, and I don't know why I'm here. I never wanted to come back again...I told you that before. I don't need you." Stated Naruto firmly as he glared at the demon before him.

"Seven years you blocked me out, now you return..."

"It wasn't my fault you stupid fox."

"Wasn't your fault? who was the one who wanted to defeat Sasuke? Who was the one who completed that retched Jutsu in which that man tried to accomplish? Who was it who always knocked upon my door begging for help, and threatening me that if I don't. I die? Who was it that locked me away for all eternity, inside some stupid little boy?"

"It was my-...wait? Locked you away? What the hell does that have to do with anything you said before. The fourth was-"

"Exactly. It was all the Hokage's fault. If he hadn't created that wind Jutsu you wouldn't be like this pathetic thing before me. If he hadn't died, the Uchiha massacre might have never had happened. Then your Uchiha friend would only just be your friend not an enemy. If the forth hadn't locked me away in your useless body. Your life would, no, everyone's lives would have been better off."

"He had a choice that night, you know. He could have locked myself away inside him and that retched death god. But then we would be fighting for eternity...But instead he used an easier method. He put myself inside a pathetic human child, a boy who had a family and who was loved, a boy who had every thing he would have wanted. He killed your mother to tie you to me. He had a choice, he just used you to make that pathetic village stronger, to use you as their weapon in battle. So that others would know not to defy them."

"Your wrong."

"...You insolent little-"

"I know he had a choice, but if he hadn't locked you away in me. Then when Gaara attacked those years ago, the village hidden in the leaves would be no more. And if not for me, the sand wouldn't have the best Kazekage they ever had!"

"Tell me, how do you know that for certain."

"Because, Gaara and I were the exact same. Both holder of great and powerful demons. Both were hated and fated among our village. Always told different, we are who we are. That's what makes one self strong. Not you, or that stupid Raccoon. But the hardships we go through every day of our life, that's what makes one truly strong."

"**HA**! Don't make me laugh. Your just a scared little boy whose in way over your head"

"I am no longer scared of you, one time I might have been. And I am not joking around you bastard, face it...you missed me" said Naruto in a way so he was taunting then fox.

"WHAT!...WHY THE HELL WOULD I MISS A PATHETIC HUMAN LIKE YOU?"

"Yes. Admit it, you missed me. You were all alone. Cut off from me, from what I thought, my emotions. You were scared. Because you had no idea when I or even you were in danger. Which means, you didn't know your fate, when you were on the brink of death."

"You're never getting out. I'll never let you out. This is my body, and your grave. I make the rules, you do not. When I ask for chakra you give it to me, not so much to make me a danger to the village. Because I can't become a liability upon them _again_. Because, I will be killed if I loose control. Which means you will die. And if you do make me go over the edge, don't think for one minute I wouldn't kill my self in order to save those close to me."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, its called a fact. If your brain is to small to process that. I scare you and you know it. Because you can't get out. And if you can't get out, just remember this is your grave as it is mine. When I die, either young or old is up to the fate of my life. The fate I choose. And your fate, has already been chosen and that's it...yours is done. I will be the last thing you ever see, remember that. I will have you die with me, I will not have you transported to another like a lot of people who seek power do. You will only reside in myself. And no one else."

"I should have been locked away in an Uchiha. Would have been better decision."

"Say what ever the hell you want. I'm leaving." stated the blonde as he started to walk away.

That's when he realized he wasn't going anywhere but down an unfamiliar hall, and it seemingly lead right back to the foxes den. They all did. Just as he was going to yell in annoyance, he found himself laying on the cool earth alone, and drenched in sweat. The chakra had finally stopped. And the pain was now just a dull numbness.

"What the hell happened? I have to get back to the village quickly. Everyone will be so surprised to see me! I wonder if Sasuke is out of jail yet?" unknown to the blonde the village would be a in surprise more then in one way.

* * *

"October 10th. What then? What's the purpose and reason?"

"We strike then because that was the night the nine tails attacked. They won't be expecting it so soon." said Pein as he looked out into his makeshift rain.

"Your positive about this?"

"Tobi. Don't question him"

"I'd be more help, let me accompany you. And leave Tobi with Itachi to go to lighting, instead" asked a blue haired female as she turned towards Pein.

"Tobi is our key element. He is familiar with the village more so then Itachi, even though Itachi may know more recent areas. Tobi knows things Itachi does not." Itachi stayed silent as he glanced over to the masked man.

"We strike in one week, from tomorrow" said Pein as he stood up and disappeared, leaving Tobi and Itachi alone.

"You have a brother, Sasuke in leaf right? an Uchiha as well?" asked Tobi trying to make conversation, but only getting a silent answer as Itachi left.

"This will be fun…" stated Tobi, as he smiled from behind his mask and walked away slowly.

* * *

**Sorry for taking so long…**

Canadain-Girl.

Please Review…


	15. IO AM SOO SORRRY

OMG...

I AM SOOO SORRY

i accidentally up loaded the chapter that was supposed to come after ...

I feel like an idiot. ill update agian tonight. should be fixed later..

SOOOOORYYYY


	16. Blonde Knight

**Chapter 14: Blonde Knight.**

_Random Re-cap of events._

Sakura's team.  
Midori - Female - Brunette - strong willed, smart, good looking.  
Yukio - Male - Blonde - annoying, strong, good looking.  
Mazy - Male - Orange - Quiet, strong, smart, good looking.

_-Naruto is on his way back to the village.  
-Akatusi is about to attack. _

_-Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke all 24._

_-My story does not follow the Manga any longer since a lot has happened…_

* * *

"Sakura!" yelled konohamaru, as he ran towards the pink haired woman as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Konohamaru? What's wrong?" she questioned as she gazed towards the brunette.

"The….H-Hokage…wants…..you…..to see….you….right….away…..in…..the third……training-" panted the brunette as he tried to breath in and out. He was gasping for air, It seemed he had been running around to find her.

"The Hokage? I wonder what for…. Alright, thank you" said the pink haired woman as she disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. Leaving the younger male collapsed on the ground breathing as hard as he could.

* * *

"_Why_ do we always eat here!….Why can't we be different and change our eating styles once and a while?" complained Midori as she cast her glance over to the two male companions of her, watching as they swallowed their food down, half the time not even swallowing. "Oh, what's the point…its like talking to two brick walls."

"What's wrong with you? All you've done today is complain." asked Yukio as he gazed over to the brunette female.

"She got dumped by that weird purple haired guy in Lee sensei's group" stated Mazy as he finished off his second bowl.

"You mean he actually dumped her, **before** they had sex…and not aft- _OW_!" shrieked Yukio as he rubbed the now forming bump upon his head, from the now smashed ramen bowl laying next to him.

"Oh, Shut up!" snapped the female as she glared down at the ground.

"That was a _bit_ harsh." said Mazy as he gazed at Midori.

"Don't flatter your self, it was meant for your head. Not his." stated the brunette, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fair enough." said the orange haired lad as he continued to eat.

"Have you to noticed lately." piped in Yukio. As he finished picking up the pieces of the now smashed bowl and handing it to the female behind the counter whom slightly glared at the three for breaking one of her dishes.

"Noticed what?" asked Mazy.

"How everyone has been acting so weirdly, since that Uzumaki guy died. Everyone was there usual upset….but like…they've become more worried about something….something **big**." said Yukio, as he stirred his bowl of ramen. Watching silently as he created a mini whirlpool.

"Your right, my mom and dad have been acting all weird lately….isn't it like close to when the Kyuubi attacked 24 years ago?" questioned Midori.

"I highly doubt their all stressed over something like that." stated Yukio dryly as he cast his glance towards her then back down his bowl.

"You never know…" said Midori, as the two males glared at her.

"It's probably something to do with Akatusi." said Mazy as he looked thoughtfully towards his bowl., and started to stir it around as well.

"You might be right…" said Yukio.

"Why?" questioned Midori.

"Because, from what I've over heard from my elder sister saying before _she_- well anyways, they have been collecting something. I'm not really sure what, it was really top secret. She refused to tell me. It was something about they needed nine of them, but one died or something…so they only had eight." said mazy, he was obviously in deep thought, while stirring hid bowl around before bringing some noodles to his lips and shoving it into his mouth.

"I forgot, I'm sorry Mazy…about your sister that is." said Midori scornfully as she looked at the orange haired lad beside her with sad eyes.

"It's fine, that's what being a ninja is like. You end up dying at one point or another. She knew what she was doing. It's true though, that's why we become ninja. To protect the ones close to us, even if we have to give up our selves." he stated almost indifferently, while his eyes held great pain and sorrow.

"It's odd isn't it….that they haven't done anything after _his _death" said Yukio thoughtfully.

* * *

"HATTTHCHHUUUU!" sneezed Naruto.

"Damn, I need to be more quiet. I'm still at least a Five days away, I need to get back quickly. It would help if my chakra wasn't so messed." said the blonde as he hopped from branch to branch, slowly increasing his speed.

"It's like learning and controlling all the basics again……..and I was _never _good at the basics the first time I did it." he added in as he glared towards the nothingness ahead of him.

* * *

"You wanted to see me lord Hokage?" asked Sakura as she appeared next to the taller blonde woman.

"Yes, I need to tell you something. But you mustn't be alarmed. Once I tell you, you must go and inform every jonin and chunin in the entire village. And if they aren't here, send the hawks."

"For what?"

"The thing is Sakura-" started the Hokage as she spoke quickly to the pink haired female.

* * *

**Two Days later**

* * *

"Tomorrow night. Man, what a drag…this is going to be harder then I thought…So she wants us….meaning me, to come up with a stragity to stop them…or is it just to slow them down." questioned Shikamaru as he looked at Sakura.

"To slow them down, she doesn't expect you would be able to come up with a plan big enough in one day." said Sakura as she looked the to brunette

"But why tomorrow?" added in Ino as she looked towards the pink haired female.

"I don't know, I'm not the enemy." said Sakura as he glared at the blonde.

"I only asked a question, billboard brow"

"Ino pig!"

"Billboard-"

"Enough you to, your adults not twelve year olds anymore…" said Shikamaru as he rubbed his temples. "_So_ what she wants is for a few Chunin to guard the villagers and lower Genin. Behind the Hokage monument. Then for the sentinels to guard the villages outer wall, while the rest of the Chunin and Jonin to guard the inner village. And for the ANBU to wait and hide until the opportune moment. While we, _meaning_ me. Set up traps. And then, try and slow them down…she's not asking for a lot at all." stated Shikamaru sarcastically as he gazed to the three people behind the pink haired woman.

"That's about right." said Sakura.

"Sensei…so they will really attack tomorrow night?" asked Midori. As she looked towards the pink haired woman before her.

"From what the Hokage heard."

"But, how does she know?" asked Yukio.

"The way she normally hears things, through that old _perv_- I mean, Jiriaya." said Sakura.

"To attack on _that_ night…" said Sasuke as he stood behind Sakura and watched Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru leave. Along with her three students.

"I know. To attack on the night our village suffered so much, and again…"

"Twenty four, _this year_." stated Sasuke dryly as he looked ahead of them.

"Huh?" she questioned as she looked up towards his face.

"That's how old the dobe would have been tomorrow night."

"Your right, with that's been going on lately….I completely forgot. He'd probably love tomorrow night…to be able to fight for the one thing he loves…"

"Hn"

* * *

**Next Day**

* * *

"Damn, stupid, un-useful stupid chakra that won't work…." muttered Naruto as he glared at a tree he'd been resting against. "By this rate I wont get back at least until tomorrow night…and I take my last pill tonight." Naruto then stood up and started to move even faster now. Slipping once and a while upon a tree branch.

As Naruto passed the surrounding villages, he failed to notice that there were only ninja wandering the streets, and roads for the last week. He had been so enthusiastic about going back he had blocked everything else out, like his surroundings.

"Looks like rain again." stated the blonde as he picked up his pace before starting to take off in a run. As the sky start to darken.

* * *

"Are all the villagers in the-"

"Yes, lord Hokage. There are a few Chunin with them as well, and a few Genin. But most if not all our forces are on stand by." stated Shiznu as she stood before the Hokage.

"As much as I would love to reject to the idea of Genin out as well, in times like these we can't refuse. We will need all the help we can get." sighed Tsuande as she rubbed her temples.

"I see you haven't been drinking today. Maybe you should, it help calm your nerves." laughed Jiriaya as he looked to the blonde before him, as he appeared through the doors.

"How can you act so calm at times like these? I'm terrified. For me to let an attack happen to our village is shameful to say the least. The third would have never-"

"I'm not calm. I just look it. I'm kind of excited if you ask me, and the people fighting for our village are ninja. Remember that, this is their way to protect the village from danger. That is why they become ninja. To protect those close to you in times of need. And remember stay out of battle until you are needed."

"I can't just-"

"Believe me, it will be alright. And what were to happen if you were to die on us? How can our villagers feel safe if every so many years we have to switch Hokage's? If you are really needed. I promise to send someone to come and get you out."

"I am not some dog you can just call upon when you feel it is the right time for me to come out of my dog house."

"I know, just be patient. They still haven't realized we know anything yet."

"Your right, I guess that's our trump card, huh?"

"You might say that." smiled Jiriaya as he and Tsunade gave a small smile, leaving Shiznu completely lost.

* * *

"I hate waiting…" muttered Sakura as sat down on the outdoor bridge, of the Uchiha resident.

"Hn." was his only reply. His eyes casting around at every object that surrounded them.

"I don't get it! Why are you always so calm! Even when our lives may be at stake!" said a frustrated pink haired woman.

"I'm not. I'm just as worried as you are, I am just able to control my emotions…" stated Sasuke, as he glanced at her.

"I remember that rule, Shinobi must never show their emotions. You know what! there's no point in repeating it. I remember I used to memorize those rules, for hours and hours. But they don't do much good after all, there just a bunch of words written on paper after all. They don't help you out there, I think of them as guidelines. After all…"

"…" he looked over towards her.

"There just a bunch of stupid lines on a few pieces of paper. What good will they do, they can't protect you from an enemy or from getting killed. Either way if you did follow them the same outcome might happen anyways…"

"But, they are able to save you from your self."

"I'm so worried. I am so sick and tired of watching my comrades and friends die before my eyes. At times I just wish, that there were no such things as ninja. Or special blood line traits…or wars. Or anything…"

"…"

"Have you decided what your going to do yet?" asked Sakura instantly changing the subject.

"About what?" asked Sasuke as he looked over towards her.

"Itachi."

"Avenge my clan." he stated simply as he looked out into the rain.

"…You always used to say that you know." said Sakura as she looked towards the ground.

"…" he glanced over towards her, with confusion in his eyes.

"I remember. You always used to say you were an avenger, and after you killed a _certain man _you would restore your clan. But I've been wondering. Who would do it? I mean we are going out and all, but you have to think Sasuke. Will this, what we have really last? I mean what happens after tonight…will things still be the same, will you and I be the same? Will anything ever be the same?" asked Sakura as she gazed out into the nothingness, while Sasuke looked at her with a surprised expression upon his face.

"Sakura…"

* * *

"Right on time."

"Are they here, Shikamaru?"

"Yea, Ino. And a few just fell right into my traps. But there are two with a familiar chakra signature are coming this way. And fast. And there's something not human with them. It has an extraordinary amount of chakra, what ever it is…"

"I'll go inform the gate." said Ino, as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You ready, Choji?"

'_Munch, munch….munch.'_

"Things never do change…" sighed Shikamaru, as he rolled off the tips of his toes and stood up. While rubbing the back of his head and sighing at the taller, and fatter man before him. As he shoved food down his throat.

* * *

"Thanks Ino, We'll inform the Hokage straight away." said Kiba, as him and Akamaru took off.

* * *

"What the hell is this?"

"Seems you fell right into my trap, _again_ by the looks of your clothes." stated Shikamaru as he sat on the balls of his toes. And looked towards the men before him.

"You, how could you…you knew about the plan!"

"Of course we did. And we told everyone. So this plan of yours you had worked so hard for, seems to have gone to crap now doesn't it?" smirked Shikamaru. As he slowly stood up while brushing off his pants. "NOW! INO!" he yelled as he turned to the female behind him.

"Righ-" But instantly she was knocked out from behind without even knowing someone had been there.

There stood an orange haired man, holding the blonde female before dropping her to the ground. Then just as Shikamaru was about to move, the orange haired man appeared behind him. This in turn, caused the brunette to jump back a few feet. Releasing the Jutsu upon the enemy. But as he looked up there wasn't just one orange haired man. But two.

"Tobi, be more careful." he stated.

"Sorry, I'm constantly being told that." laughed the man behind the mask, as he shook his body. Now he was free once again from Shikamaru's shadows.

"They have a point." said the one with shorter hair and various amounts of piercing upon his ears.

"Tobi, head to the village now. Along with the rest that survived the traps." stated Pein. As he signalled the brunette to go ahead.

"Right, **hey**. Where did that Nara guy go?" questions Tobi as he glanced around for Shikamaru.

"Hurry! To the village now!" yelled Pein, as they all headed as fast as they could towards the village. Following close behind Shikamaru and Choji whom carried Ino.

* * *

"Man, this takes way to long. It'll be at least tomorrow morning by the time I return to the village. When I become Hokage, I'm going to demand they move the country or something a bit closer to places. Or at least expand it!" muttered a blonde haired man, as he tried to pick up his pace.

* * *

"Great, _rain_." muttered Sakura, as she punched, and then round house kicked one of the rain ninja. Then realized the irony in the thing she had just said. And gave a low sigh. As the rain started to fall down from the sky.

"That wasn't very nice girly." smirked the other ninja's friend as he came closer. Something deep inside the pink haired girl twitched. And then snapped in half.

"Don't. Call. Me. **Girly**!" yelled Sakura, as she punched the ground. Causing it to brake open then a rock flew right in front of her. She then punched the large stone, which broke off and went straight towards the rain ninja. Causing him to be thrown against the near by wall of one of the surrounding buildings, breaking down a few large pieces of it.

"You hit hard…" he muttered before, getting knocked out.

"Wait till I use my full strength.." smiled Sakura, while cracking her knuckles and looking around for her next victim.

* * *

"What are sound ninja doing here?!" said a freaked out Yukio, as he threw kunai knife at them.

"Hn, probably still mad at me for killing Orochimaru and Kabuto." stated Sasuke as he glared towards the sound ninja.

"_Wow_…wait he was a Sanin. That means your stronger then a SANIN!"

"Well.."

"YOUR EVEN COOLER THEN BEFORE SENSEI!"

"_Yukio_."

"Yeah?"

"Remember when Sakura and I told you not to use your blood line trait, **ever**."

"Yeah?"

"Don't be an **idiot**. Use it now! And you better make it count." stated Sasuke, as he left Sakura's three student alone.

* * *

"I said. **GET OUT OF MY WAY**!" yelled Sakura as she drove yet another punch into the cool earth, causing a massive creator to be formed.

"AHH!" came the yells of the unlucky, Shinobi whom got caught in it.

"Damn, there wasn't this many a few minutes ago!" she yelled to no one in particular as she punched a few people, and ducked under the punches and kicks she was currently trying to avoid.

"Hn." came from behind, just as Sakura was going to punch the man behind her square in the face. He easily caught her fist and stopped all her movements.

"Sasuke!" she yelled in surprise as she looked at him dreamily.

"There are more here then I suspected. It seems a few other villages were attacked. I heard sound was defeated. That's why their battling us."

"But, where are the three Shikamaru talked about?"

"Don't know, their masking their chakra."

"This. Is. So. **FRUSTATING**!" she yelled once again, while getting her fist free from Sasuke and punching a few people knocking them back a few hundred feet.

"They seem to have only attacked this area of the village, where the defence is the strongest." stated Kakashi, as he appeared next to Sasuke in a whirl wind of leaves.

"I noticed that too. You take this area here. Well go scope out the rest of the village." stated Sasuke as he looked to his former sensei.

"Wait Sasuke-" but he was cut off as Sasuke grabbed Sakura and disappeared.

* * *

"Tobi, go after the Uchiha brat."

"You mean Sasuke?" asked the masked man with a sinister smile behind his mask.

"I'll take care of those around him. Let's take away the one thing he shouldn't even have."

"…"

"Go now. I'll take sensei, and the pink haired girl."

"Sensei?…he was your-"

"Go!"

"Right!" stated Tobi, as he took off instantly.

* * *

"Ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine….one-"

"Your keeping count now? You were always annoying even if that bomb freak liked you. Didn't mean I did." stated Tobi as he appeared next to Sasuke.

"You…aren't dead!" stated Sasuke allowed, surprised to see him standing. After his fight with the so called _'bomb freak' _Sasuke was positive he'd died to.

"Nope. I guess you weren't all that lucky. So, hey what are you doing-"

"_CHORIDO!" _

"HEY! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!" yelled Tobi, as he nearly escaped that last attack.

"Hn"

"Two can play it that way. _GRAND FIRE BALL JUTSU_!" yelled Tobi, as a giant blue flame came towards him.

"…" Sasuke barely dodged that last attack and looked over confusingly at Tobi. Wondering how he created a blue flame.

"_CHORIDO_!" yelled Sasuke once again, as he charged at Tobi.

"Again with the blue thing." said Tobi, and in an instant he was behind Sasuke holding a kunai to his throat.

"Every move I make. You know how to counter it. No matter what I do, how I do it. It's as if your reading my movements and predicting what happens next. But all the while your copying me, taking in all that information." said Sasuke, as he bowed forward and swung his right leg behind him, expecting to hit something. But ended up hitting nothing.

'_He's fast. A little to fast.' _thought Sasuke while looking at the man in front of him.

* * *

"Forty nine!" yelled Sakura, as she drove yet another punch into the ground.

"Ahh!" the screams from falling and injured men could be heard from all around. Every which way, people around her were being easily killed off. People she knew, people she could have known. Small children, just turned geni

Sakura then felt a presence just behind her, and as she threw another punch to the person behind her. The man grabbed it with ease, and instantly brought the young woman to her knees. He then let go of her arm to grab her hair instead and a kunai knife was next to her throat.

"I see, so this is the power passed down by the Hokage herself. Impressive for someone as young as you. To bad you'll never get to teach it."

"…"

"Well, it seems we aren't talking. Might as well just end your life now." said Pein, as he pushed her forward. Causing Sakura to land on her face, her arms supported her to get up in a crawling position.

Pein took the opportunity to shove the knife towards the base of her spine. Sakura on the other hand saw his movements out of the corner of her eye and instantly rolled. To have the blade dig deep into her lower abdomen.

"Who…are….you?" said Sakura, as she felt part of her body go numb. She silently winced, knowing that she had no idea what this substance was.

"God, I've been known to be called that. But everyone one else knows me as Pein, or lord Pein."

"_God_, you? Why would they ever say such as thing…your nothing but a human. Like me…" her breathing was become harsh and fast.

"Your unable to feel your legs, isn't that correct?"

"…" Sakura stayed silent, knowing he was correct.

"Soon, it will spread to your arms. Then your lungs, then to your heart. But, that will take at least a day. On the chance that your unlucky enough to get hit again, and if you get hit once more you won't last a day."

"I won't let you, get that close to me again." threatened Sakura. As she slowly pushed away from him. And punched the ground. She sat upon her legs. She winced again, feeling the pain once more.

* * *

' _DAMNIT IT. He's tougher then I imagined…last I met he was a complete idiot. He can predict my moves…then copy them…its as if he has the sharigan. But that's impossible…only the Uchiha clan have that ability.'_ thought Sasuke while glaring at the silent man.

"Hey kid." stated Tobi, while throwing a Kunai knife aimlessly towards the raven haired man.

"…" Sasuke easily dodged it as he looked to the elder male.

"As you've been fighting me. Did you ever notice that there was something there, that's not meant to be noticed?"

"…" Sasuke stood up straight, and looked at the man confusingly. As he watched him closely, the other half of his mind was trying to figure out what he was talking about. Just as he was about to ask what the hell he had been talking about, a piercing scream could be heard off in the distance. Sasuke's body went Frigid.

"_Sakura_……" whispered Sasuke, as he turned to leave. Only to have another Kunai nearly miss his head.

"You're _staying_ right here with me."

"I don't have time to deal with you! KAKASHI! TAKE CARE OF THIS…..**NOW**!" yelled Sasuke as he side kicked the raven haired man, whom sent Tobi falling to the ground below.

* * *

"Why do I always have to clean up _your _guy's messes…" said Kakashi with a long sigh.

"Ow, that one actually hurt…" muttered Tobi, as he rubbed his back in pain.

'_A mask, how original. He looks like a clown.' _thought Kakashi, while looking at the raven haired man slowly stand up and brush off his clothes.

"If it isn't Haytake Kakashi. It's been a long time, to long I think." said Tobi, while turning slightly to look at the silver haired man before him.

"Do I know you?" asked Kakashi, as he held his head protector. As if to lift it up at any given moment.

"I know you, as clear as I can see you. The question is, do you remember me? To hid under a mask, and to cover a single eye. People might just say they could have an advantage over you. To bad, they don't know your true self."

"I could say the same, but to make it into Akatusi, you have to be strong. What is the _real _me?"

"This is going to be fun..."stated Tobi as he lunged towards Kakashi.

* * *

"Damn it!" yelled the pink haired female as she closed her eyes. At that point in time she could no longer move a single inch. As she waiting for the impact she felt a pair of arms grab her and pin her to the ground, she felt the strangers arms rap them selves around her back and hold her close.

"Sasuke…" muttered Sakura as she looked up to see him, kneeling down and holding her close.

Seconds had passed. But nothing happened, Sasuke's breathing was heavy and harsh. It came in sharp pants. It had taken a lot of his energy just to be able to get over to her before Pein had struck her a second time. Before killing her instantly.

Both were silent, they waited for the man behind them to attack, but instead a cloud of dust was blocking their view. As Sasuke turned his head slightly all he was able to notice was the brown dust from the road gathered around them. As he activated his sharigan, he noticed two chakra using figures. They had to be only a few feet away. The one with their back to him was holding his arm and was knelt on one knee, while the other one was also knelt down.

Sasuke watched intensely as the dust started to settle and a taller man, but not taller then him. Stood up, the one whom seemed un harmed. As he watched the un harmed man stand up he watched silently as a pill slipped into his mouth, before he threw the bottle at Sasuke and Sakura.

Sasuke watched it silently as it rolled towards him. His eyes cast downwards to it for one second. Noticing it was just an ordinary pill bottle. As he glanced back up to the two figures. The man whom had stood up and thrown the bottle spoke.

"Hope you weren't to scared. _Scardy_ cat." smiled Konoha's number one, nuckle headed ninja. Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

**Sorry for such bad spelling I don't have internet to look up the names at the moment. It was longer then I thought it would be.**


	17. Saviour

****

Chapter 15: Saviour

"Naruto?" asked Sasuke, half frightened and half amused. His pale face looked over to the blonde, while Sakura lay unconscious in his arms.

"Who'd you think it was bastard. It looks like you've seen a ghost."

"…" Sasuke remained silent as he glared towards Naruto.

"I came all the way back here, expecting a welcoming party. Only find my self saving your sorry ass, and some blonde loud mouth of a brat."

"Shut up, dobe. I didn't need saving." shot Sasuke as he gave a small smirk towards him.

"Don't tell me to shut up you bastard! You're the idiot here!" smiled Naruto as she threatened to raise a fist.

"…" the two glared daggers at one another, while smiling towards one another. From anothers persons point of view the two would have appeared to be crazy. On the other hand Pein slowly started to stand and look at the blonde before him. He was certain the man that had attacked him wasn't the Kyuubi container, but the fourth Hokage, Jiriaya student after him.

"Your _alive_…" stated Pein, keeping his voice calm, bitterness was still evident.

"I am so sick of hearing that! What is with you all? That has to be the third time I've heard that since I arrived back. Tell me what is so wrong with being alive these days!" yelled Naruto as he pointed a finger at Pein as he came closer with each step.

"Your supposed to be dead." stated Sasuke, while he still held Sakura close to him.

"Am I? I look alive don't I?" stated Naruto as he looked himself up and down.

"_Not for long_. I will send you back down to hell where you belong!" stated Pein, as he charged for the blonde.

"Like hell I am, I just got back from that hell. I will not go back to _him_! _(meaning the crazy old guy he was training with.)_" yelled Naruto, instantly over 300+ shadow clones instantly appeared as they changed towards Pein while the real Naruto stayed back and kept seven with him.

"These again? They seem to be your trade mark. They're getting very annoying. Don't you have anything else to throw at me, or are you totally dependent upon this single attack?" stated Pein, as he easily and quickly started to cut through them.

"Well they work well, for what I need them for any way's. But this one, I have been saving just for you. You bastard!" stated Naruto, as he charged towards Pein, while holding a massive amount of chakra in the palm of his hand. Sasuke watched in total silence, he remembered that attack well. It was the same one that had almost killed him, and left Naruto for nothing.

"Don't make me laugh." smirked Pein as two more of him appeared and sent the blonde flying backwards, causing the Jutsu to get released upon the ground. Creating I giant crater.

"I wasn't trying to." smirked Naruto, as two clones grabbed him around the arms, while one came from the back and another came from the front.

While one stayed below the ground, just as he shot threw the cold and solid earth, Pein jumped up and to the side, then again to the left to avoid the blonde from his back and his front. Then he heard something, as he looked upwards his purple eyes widened in shock. The sound of the ball of chakra could be heard. It was creating so much of a force that it caused the air around it to be pulled and sucked into it. The sound of it was terrify. As the blonde thrust it straight into Pein, he flew back several feet. While the other two bodies of him instantly disappeared.

'_What the hell was that…_' thought Pein, as he coughed up a large amount of blood.

He then drew a sword he had hidden away under his cloak, and started to run to the blonde whom had his back turned. Naruto caught the gleam of his sword in the moonlight, his eyes widened as he felt blood poor from out of him. The sword had stuck only inches away from where Sasuke had struck so long ago. He then pulled down upon the sword, and smirked a gruesome smirk and watched the blonde fall off the end of the blade and land upon his hands and knees, while coughing up larger and larger amounts of blood.

"Damn it, that hurt. But…your just to damned slow for your own good. When you get to hell, tell them to wait a little bit longer. I ain't ready to go yet." stated Naruto, as he spun around and pushed off the ground and drove his fist straight threw the recent hole he had just created in Pein.

Pein's eyes widened as he felt the blonde haired boy go clear threw him. He was silent, Naruto pulled out of him just as rough as he had gone in. Pein's eyes started to close, Naruto watched as the man before him fall over. The rain beat down harder then ever before, it washed the sight of blood away down the streets. Naruto's eyes looked upward into the sky as he felt the rain drip and fall down his face and neck. Soaking him. He then reopened them and looked down to the pathetic state Pein was in before walking away.

"It will never end, will it? Your plan. I know your true desire. To get all the demons…and use them to harness an evil power to control the world.…isn't that right? That's why you sent some of your people out to the different lands to threaten them. To tell them to give up now before it's to late? It might sound like pity, but it isn't is it? Your just using them, as tools. But you have to understand, people will rise against those who do wrong, people don't like to be thought as tools. And they sure as hell don't like leaders who believe and make them selves out to be gods. Because, in the life that we have right now. There are no such things as gods. Only people who have power and wish to abuse it." stated Naruto, as he walked away. Then stopped, realizing he was trying to get up.

"If you walk away from me it will be your death." stated Pein as he stood up, clutching his chest.

"No. You have it wrong, you should be saying that to your self not me. Because only one of us is going to die. And it won't be me, and I won't be the one killing anyone." stated Naruto his eyes darkened at the sight of Pein, while he on the other hand looked confused at the last words Naruto had said.

* * *

"She isn't dead, help her." said Sasuke as he passed Sakura to a magenta haired female and a blonde.

"Foolish little brother. Throwing your life away like that, how pointless. For a woman…you should have stayed the way you were. You should not have let your self think you have something to live for."

"Itachi…"

"…"

"Take her away, **now**." said Sasuke in a deathly voice, the two females nodded their heads as they disappeared.

"Why do you care so much, friendship. What a useless thing that is. I know nothing of the word. They are just the tools of the village, a sharp tool to be used over and over again till it blunts. Then they are thrown away."

"It's true, the ninja here are fighting a battle that has nothing to do with them. But they do it because they know it's right. Even if they are trying to protect the person they hate most. Without even knowing it. They are my comrades, my friends. No matter how much they annoy me."

"Friends, comrades…it doesn't matter, they are all blunt tools that are in my way. You were always to soft."

"Hn, maybe that's why I survived all these years. Being to soft proved to be important, because if I showed any trace of you I'd have been locked away. All these years I have been fighting, and striving to be at your level. To kill you is all I live for, and that is all you live for as well. You had a chance to kill me, but you didn't. Now I understand, you want me to kill you."

"There is no want in it." stated Itachi as he looked at Sasuke.

"It's a need, isn't it. You need me to kill you, because you want me to be your grim reaper. For me to kill you, you believe that if I kill you the burden you hold upon your chest from killing everyone will go away. And it will pass onto me. Killing you means closure. Closure you wish to have."

"…" Itachi stayed silent, his face passive.

"I will kill you today. And you will die by my blade. And no others." stated Sasuke darkly.

"I will not allow another to kill me, you are the only one who should be allowed…"

* * *

"You posses the sharigan. Interesting…to bad for you Kakashi." smiled Tobi from under his mask.

"…" Kakashi stood confused, while his red eye looked straight at the raven haired man.

"Because, your not the only special on here." Smiled Tobi, while opening his eye to look at the silver haired bewildered man before him.

"Impossible…"

"I was just about to say the same. I am an Uchiha. But on the other hand you are not. So why would you have the sharigan. Unless…it was given to you."

"An Uchiha?" replied Kakashi not believing what he had heard.

"Surprised doesn't suit you well at all, it never did. Even when you were a kid." smiled Tobi playfully, as he removed his mask voluntarily for the first time.

Kakashi stared blankly at the man before him, he was clad in machinery, raven hair and a small patch over his left eye. Kakashi was in complete and mortal shock, un known what was happening at that moment in time, he stepped forward.

"It can't-"

"This will be an interesting battle…" smiled Mandra as he pulled out a large sword.

* * *

"You damned demon. I should have killed you when I had the chance. I should have listened to the damned Uchiha from the start."

"Hm, I guess I'm not as much up to speed as I thought I was." said Naruto, in a playful manner as he held his side, blood dripping threw his fingers. He then moved his left arm up to his right, knowing right away it fractured.

"Your as just as strong as they say you are. It helps I guess, to have a demon within your self. Give up boy, and hand over him to me. Life would be so much easier right? Never getting those looks from the people around you. Think about it, I bet you've wished to die many times, haven't you?" smiled Pein horribly.

"You don't have me figured out that easy. The thing is, right now. He's really mad at me." said Naruto while pointing to his stomach. " So he's been refusing to give me his chakra, and he refuses to help my healing go along faster."

"So what?" remarked Pein in a bored manner.

"The power, I've been kicking your ass with all night." smiled Naruto broadly.

"…"

"Has been mine." he laughed as he watched Peins face show horrid looks.

"You lie. There isn't a way-"

"Minato, is that you?" asked a man from the shadows as he appeared behind the blonde.

"_Minato_? Who's Minato, you old pervert?" asked Naruto as he turned his head slightly to look at Jiriaya.

The elder mans eyes widened at the sight of his youngest student before him, He couldn't believe it. Just a few seconds ago he had believed he saw Minato. But it turned out to be Naruto, the boy acclaimed of being dead. His looks, his movements, for the exception of his personality. They all were _his _traits.

"It is you…"

"He…he's alive!" stated Tsuande as she appeared behind Jiriaya, thinking she had seen a ghost only moments before. Like the ones that had haunted her in her dreams.

"What is with everyone tonight! I leave for a short-" but Naruto stopped himself as he then started to use his fingers to see how many years it had actually been. Then his eyes widen at how many years actually past. "It was just seven years….and you all act as if I died for something." replied Naruto bitterly.

"But we heard that-"

"Lord Hokage, this isn't the time. It can wait till tomorrow." said Jiriaya as he looked at the blonde haired woman.

"I- Naruto, your hurt." stated Tsuande as she walked over to him, every one had almost forgot about the man before them.

"Don't waist your chakra, wait till I kick his ass!" said Naruto, as he punched his fist into his hand, and started to walk over to Pein, but instead Jiriaya placed a hand in front of the blonde.

"Let me finish this, I need to teach my old student a lesson."

"But-"

"Naruto, listen to him." stated Tsuande as she pulled the blonde away to a safe enough distance and started to heal his open wound in his side.

* * *

"PEIN!" yelled a blunette haired woman, as she called off into the distance. Causing the three leaf ninja to get slightly distracted. Leaving Pein an opening upon Jiriaya. He then drove his sword forward, Jiraiya caught the gleam of the blade and just dodged it. Only to have it scrape upon the side of his face.

"Damn." muttered the silver haired man, as he moved his hands quickly and shoved them to the ground. Creating a giant toad. While I giant tiger type turtle stood before him at equal height.

'_Why only summon something, when he was the power to do so much more.'_ thought Jiriaya as he gazed at his former student.

* * *

"You must be Uzumaki Naruto. The only one that got away, but I will kill you." stated the blunette haired woman, as she shot what seemed to be paper swords towards him.

Her flying projectiles were only inches away. He knew his chakra was running extremely low. And he had to protect the Hokage, so as he flung himself over the elder woman, he mad sure his body was on top of hers. Tsuande was taken back by the sudden movements and stopped what she had been doing, only to have his wound open up once again.

As they waited for something, anything to happen. Naruto could feel something like sand dripping onto his back. As he opened his eyes and looked behind him, he noticed a giant sand barrier in front of him.

He then turned his eyes to cast over to in front of him, only a few feet away stood Gaara. His eyes just as cold as ever. The sound of bones being crushed could be heard from the other side of the barrier. He slightly winced at the noise, as he looked back up to Gaara he noticed to haggard looking people come out from behind the few trees to his right.

"Gaara." said the idiotic blonde, as he leapt up and looked at the Kazekage before him. While Gaara on the other hand, his eyes went large and looked at the blonde.

"Naruto?" question Gaara, unsure of his own voice.

* * *

"How? His sand was supposed to-" started Pein, before Jiriaya shut him up.

"You should know as well as I, some things are here to stay. Like that kid over there, and some things aren't. Like you and I." smiled Jiriaya as he started to move his hands.

* * *

"Lord Hokage, thank you. You sent us those warnings just in time. Your village isn't the only one under attack, but once they find out Akatusi has been defeated. They will soon as well give up." stated Gaara, as he watched Naruto help her to her feet. While Temari and Konkaru, left to go help out the village.

* * *

"Warnings? But how could you have all-"

"Your not to smart. To have your selves go into hiding, and make no appearance of showing up. It gets you wondering after a while. _Where have they gone to, what are they doing?_ Simple questions like that. Didn't you think we'd notice? By the look upon you face I guess not. I went to rain, thinking something was up. I ended up getting your entire plan out from a lower class ninja. Of yours."

"Even I noticed." said Naruto.

"No surprise there, after all they did try to come and kill you. Other wise you would have been oblivious."

"HEY!" came the blondes voice, from the distance.

"Our village would have been worse then yours, if you hadn't warned us before hand. We had taken care of them two days ago. Before their initial attack. Then came here as fast as we could." said Gaara while looking at the Hokage.

"I see." she stated plainly, while looking at him then to Naruto who once again winced in pain. Causing the Hokage to give him medical attention again.

* * *

"You've gotten stronger. Little brother."

"Either that, you you've gotten weaker." smirked Sasuke.

"…"

"Tell me, how bad has your eye sight gotten now?" he asked as he looked at his brother with what appeared to be pity…

"…" his eyes widened as he looked to Sasuke.

"I know all about it, and how it drains you faster." smirked Sasuke as he tilted his sword upwards.

"…" Itachi stayed silent, knowing he was coming to his limits.

He had managed to get hit in three places, while Sasuke was far worse then he. As he closed his eyes for a quick second. Sasuke took that for an advantage point and appeared behind him instantly and brought his sword up through Itachi's upper cavity. Leaving Sasuke stained with blood. 60 his own blood, and 40 Itachi's.

"…" Itachi stayed silent, until he stated to cough up large amounts of blood. Then as he grabbed Sasuke's blade handle and tried to remove the sword. But Sasuke had his own ideas. He then used chorido through out his entire blade. And causing Itachi to freeze for a few moments. His entire insides were burned badly.

"What did you use?" was the only thing he asked.

"Something, you'll never be able to copy." stated Sasuke in a monotone voice, before using it once again. Instantly killing him.

"Thank you, little brother." said Itachi as his body fell off the end of the blade. And drifted towards the cool wet earth.

Sasuke stood there for a few seconds. Before letting himself drop to the ground, kneeling next to his now dead brother. His entire body was shaking, it was over. He had finally done it, he avenged his clan. But even so. Something didn't feel right. A silent tear slid down his face, mixing in with the rain. Even though he had finally killed his brother, it came into realization. He had actually killed his one and only brother. The last soul remaining ninja of the Uchiha clan excluding himself.

He heard faint foot steps, he could tell right away it was friend and not foe. The step were to light and they seemed to be slightly dragging. He felt a hand press down upon his shoulder, and a helping hand to help him stand up.

"You dobe, you got hurt pretty bad." said Sasuke mockingly, as they stood upon the Hokage monument. How, and why they went there. They would never know.

"Your one to talk, at least I don't look as bad as you do. Bastard." said Naruto, taking his arm away from supporting the Uchiha.

"DOBE!"

"BASTARD!"

"You two are already at it? Naruto you just got back a few hours ago, and your already at one another's throats. Troublesome." said Shikamaru, as he approached the two.

"Hey, SHIKAMARU!" waved Naruto, as he threw his hands into the air before wincing instantly realizing one was still hurt. While Sasuke was sat on the ground, and was currently getting healed by Ino.

"What happened to Pein?" asked Naruto.

"Dead…" said Shikamaru, but Naruto could tell he was holding something important back. Just as he was about to ask Sasuke cut in.

"Where's-"

"Sakura is fine, she's at the hospital. The Hokage saw her before the poison reached her major organs, she should be fins in a couple of days.

"What about Kakashi and-" started Sasuke, getting Naruto's attention.

"Kakashi…he's well. When we found him he was a complete mess. And the other guy…I don't know who exactly he was. But all Kakashi was saying when we found him was _'Why…why are you here…you should have died…long ago…Mandra' _" Finished Shikamaru.

"Man-??" questioned Naruto.

"Yeah, from what I heard he used to be a great ninja, one from when the first was around…the one who brought the Kyubbi to attack the village 23 years ago. And an Uchiha none the less." replied Shikamaru as he thought about it.

"The nine tails…. but how is that-"

"Don't ask me. All the news I got is- Hey Naruto….shit. SOMEONE GET HELP! NOW!" yelled the brunette, as he caught the blonde from falling. He had fainted from lack of blood. His wound had re-opened once agian.

* * *

From down below a certain blonde haired teen heard the name Naruto. He instantly looked to his left and watched as Choji, and Shikamaru ran towards the hospital. And noticed Choji had been caring someone, just as he was about to go and follow he noticed Sasuke and Ino coming along as well. But at a much slower pace.

Sasuke glanced over to the blonde only for a spilt second, before making Ino let go of him and rush after the two men that had just run off.

"Sasuke! You shouldn't be moving around so much!" yelled Ino, as she followed.

"Naruto?" questioned Yukio, as he watched them take off.

* * *

"Hey." smiled Jiriaya.

"Don't you dare, _hey_ me…" shot back Tsuande.

"You know as well as I do, it just wasn't meant to be." he replied as he touched her arm.

"No. please, let me help-"

"Tsuande. There isn't anything you can do. I know when I'm at my ends…" he stated with a said smile place upon his face.

"I can still-"

"**Don't**. Save your energy. No amount of your power will save me."

"_But_….I can't loose you too, my little brother, Dan…I can't loose you either."

"Heh, Dan. You know the day you told me you two were going out…."

"I-"

"I was so jealous. I knew you could never love me as much as I love you."

"…Jiriaya" she stated half scared at what he had just said.

"No, don't say anything. I knew I wasn't going to last this battle out. You knew it as well."

"…" Tsuande stayed silent, as tears poured down her face, she used her body as a cover from the rain for the man now dying on her lap.

"You know, you do make a better Hokage then I ever would, your brother would be proud. I'm certain, and I'm sure Dan would be one of the proudest. Because you've brought their beliefs into your job."

"…Please, let me help you…"

"No, we're old. I need to go sometime. It might as well be now. I couldn't ask for a better time."

"It's raining you idiot…and its almost sun rise…"

"I meant, that it's a perfect way to go. In style, the way I always wanted it. With a **bang**. Even though it wasn't really the way I imagined it. But for the last person I see before I die. I'm glad it's you."

"…" her tears were coming down harder, and harder then before.

"Watch over him for me, make sure he stays out of trouble. To think, it was like training Minato all over again. Except he was less stubborn and less of a loud mouth. But other then that…make sure he reads this. I promised him I'd give it to Naruto when I saw him. I guess I couldn't do it. Even after the twelve years he died. I remember meeting him, he caught me at the bath house." smiled Jiriaya as he closed his eyes of a few seconds.

"…"

"I knew him right away, even without asking. But I still did, I was sure it had been Minato. I was almost positive, but then again he was a way better student. Wasn't so annoying as that brat here…but, even though I spent three years training him I couldn't get up the courage to give it to him. He gave me this on the 10th of October…and I promised. But I just can't do it, I won't be able to. Just give it to him, for me?"

"I promise…" said Tsuande as she took the orange scroll away from Jiriaya.

"The sun's coming, means I have to go…also, wish him a happy birthday. And tell him, I'm proud." smiled Jiriaya.

"I will, I promise…" she said, as she closed his eyes and kissed his lips gently, and watched as the rain slowly stop The sky was becoming clearer by the second. She held the man before her as close as she could to her body, the tears over flowed. And she could feel his warmth slowly die.

"I love you too…" she whispered into his ear. As she placed her forehead down upon his chest. And cried, and cried. Till she couldn't no more.

* * *

**There it is, the end of chapter 15. There is only three more chapters left until the end. They will be up in the next week or two. **

**Anyways thanks to all my loyal readers. **

**Bye for now..**

**D-A**


	18. The Grand Escape

**Chapter Sixteen: The Grand Escape.**

* * *

Darkness soon turned to blinding light, Naruto slowly opened his eyes only to see white washed out walls and white ceiling tiles. His body felt as if he was going to die of hunger, as he slowly gazed around the room he noticed he was totally alone. The door looked to have been bolted shut, the only positive outcome was that he wasn't strapped down for once.

"Damn! Why is it every time I do something good I end up back here…the gods must hate me.." stated Naruto bitterly, his eyes then caught the innocently open window in the corner of the room. A sly smile appeared upon the blondes face as he looked to his clothes in the chair across from him and then to the window.

"He-he-he…" laughed the blonde as he stood up and slowly made his way towards this chair.

* * *

"Sasuke. I'm fine! For the last time…**stay in bed**!" stated Sakura as she pushed the Uchiha back in his bed. "Don't make me get the Hokage!"

"I need to make sure! I need to see…..to see if he's actually…" stated Sasuke as he pushed her away, he held a deranged look in his eyes as he tried to escape.

"Sasuke, you killed him. I saw the body myself….they're doing an autopsy as we speak."

"No, not him…"

"Sasuke?" questioned Sakura as her grip on him loosened and looked at him directly.

"I need to see the dobe….Naruto…" stated Sasuke as he looked her in the eyes.

"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head a few nights ago or something? What about Naruto…" asked Sakura as she looked sadly to the man who sat before her in the white hospital bed.

"He's alive! I saw him, talked to him, was saved by that IDIOT!….three nights ago…he lost a lot of blood…"

"Sasuke" pleaded Sakura as she looked at him with depressed eyes. "I don't like seeing you like this. It's the first time you've spoken since the tenth…and you sound like-"

"Sakura-" began Sasuke as he looked at her before he was cut off by a woman's voice.

"Lord Hokage?" questioned Sakura as she turned around to meet the gaze of the woman before her.

"Go to room 341, there's a patient that needs your attention." Stated Tsunade as she looked at Sasuke instead of her.

"But-"

"I'll look after him, don't worry. Now, GO!" demanded the elder the woman as the pink haired female trudged outside the room.

"How long have you know about Naruto?" questioned Sasuke as he looked out the opened window.

"I didn't, I just never let go." smiled the blonde as she looked down towards him then towards the window.

"Never let go…even after seven years?" questioned Sasuke.

"What can I say, I'm horrible. But I can't say im not happy he returned when he did. He saved a lot of people that night, and I don't think he…himself realizes that yet.."

"How many-"

"I can't say everyone is ok, their were a few casualties but…he got there just in time as a group of ninja got past out lines and where about to attack the villagers."

"He always was a show off." stated Sasuke as he looked towards the bed sheets.

"He also saved that blonde student of Sakura's that took a liking to you. He didn't even mean to…" smiled Tsunade as she looked towards him.

"Hn"

"…While I on the other hand just glad that everyone's ok…"

"He…Jiraiya, didn't make it. Did he?" asked Sasuke as he looked outside.

"…."

"…." Sasuke remained silent, waiting for her words.

"No. He died a little after he found Naruto was still alive." stated Tsunade with a tear running down her cheek.

"What about Kakashi?"

"I'm not to certain…"

"What do you mean?"

"Madara did something to him…"

"What do you mean?"

"He hasn't spoken a word to anyone. Something happened between those two. He refuses to speak."

"And the idiot?"

"I just sent Sakura to see him now. I haven't told her yet, as you can tell. He's doing perfectly fine, most if not all his injuries are healed completely."

"Hn"

* * *

"Why's the door locked? Who's in here…" questioned Sakura as she gave a low sigh, thinking back to the hysterical Sasuke.

"Hello, anyone in here-" spoke Sakura as she walked in, eyes closed. A sigh of frustration left her lips and she opened her eyes. Just as she opened her eyes her knees buckled and she fell to the ground instantly looking at the blonde whom had himself perched upon the window sill ready to leap out.

"Later, Sakura." he stated with a smile before disappearing out the window.

"That….w…was….he's back-" stated Sakura as she pulled herself up and ran towards the window at full pace and leaned as far as she could out the window and watch the blonde land softly on the ground, straighten his clothes and slowly walk away.

"STOP HIM!" yelled Sakura as she pointed out the window to a few passing villagers, while Naruto turned a corner into an ally.

* * *

"I'm so sick of eating here!" complained Midori, as she sat down next to Yukio.

"You'll learn to love it." stated Yukio as he ordered another bowl.

"…What ever you say…"

"Guess what happened the night we were attacked!" smiled the blonde as he looked to the brunette.

"We were attacked, you got hurt, ate an apple? What?" questioned Mazy as he looked lamely to the blonde with stating the obvious.

"No, well yes…but no. This weird guy I've never seen before saved me!" he stated with enthusiasm.

"A weird guy?" questioned his two team mates as they looked at him.

"Yeah! I only got to see him for a second…this is what happened!"

* * *

**Flashback Yukio P.O.V**

**

* * *

**

"_HA! Another one down! That makes twelve!" I stated simply as I smashed another into ice pops._

"_You'll pay for that brat!" I heard from behind me. _

_I was startled for a second. As I looked behind my shoulder I was prepared for the worst, I knew I didn't have anytime to react to the current situation that lay out before me. I closed my eyes and waited, I felt a hand grip me tightly and instantly I was pulled over 50 feet away. And that bastard was almost dead. I looked up and there he was, a weird blonde haired guy. But he looked so cool! He looked really confused though, but I knew who he was…he was the fourth Hokage! I see that face everyday…I knew it was him instantly…_

"_What the hell is going on here? I leave for a minute and the village gets attacked!" said the fourth, he was wearing all black and had really long blonde hair tied up in a low ponytail. I was in awe, until I noticed he was addressing me…_

"_Hey kid. Where the hell is that bastard!" demanded the fourth._

"_Do you mean the leader of-" I spoke before he cut me off._

"_No you idiot! Sasuke! He's the one who's supposed to stop all this damned crap from going on while I was gone." stated the frustrated man as he stormed away. _

"_He's over there…" I spoke as I looked at him._

_And that was the last I saw of him, his long hair swaying behind him. It matched that old man that hangs around with the Hokage._

* * *

**Flashback ended  
**

"You're an idiot, the forth died a long time ago." stated Midori as she looked at her bowl.

"Guess what else!" stated Yukio ignoring her statement.

"Do we have to…" she questioned as she glared at him.

"I heard Uzumaki Naruto is alive, and is around the village somewhere! And I know it wasn't the forth." stated Yukio with a blush on his face. "He was just so cool…and looked a lot like him!"

"Naruto you say?" asked Mazy as he stopped eating.

"That's right!"

"Hn…"

"_Another_." stated a hooded figure as they held out their bandaged hand for another bowl while placing it in a pile of sixteen or more bowls.

"Who's that?" asked Yukio as he watched the bandaged arm take a bowl from Ayame's hand and began to eat fast. While the girl smiled pleasantly at the person.

"E-Excuse me…"

"Yes Hinata sensei?" asked Midori as she looked at the timid woman before her.

"Have any of you seen someone with blonde hair and dressed in orange come around here?" asked the female as she looked at the four people.

"Nope, orange would be very noticeable…" stated Yukio as he looked at her.

"Well, if you do happen to see someone like that, tell one of us right away. Do you understand?" said the female as she hurried away.

"She has such a great rack…" stated Yukio as he watched her leave.

Thus in turn causing the person hidden underneath a cloak start to cough and choke on what he had been eating. His hand then started to pound on his chest, giving air to his lungs. As he did so his hood fell from atop his head, showing long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes.

"Are you alright, Nar-" started Ayame as she looked at the blonde.

"It's him!" stated Yukio as he pointed at the elder man.

"Who?" asked Midori as she looked at her blonde friend.

"The guy that saved me!"

"Did I? I don't remember saving a stuck up little snot nosed brat. I remember saving a little kid to scared to move." retorted the man as he looked towards the younger blonde.

"Why you!" started Yukio as he stood up, but was stopped from behind by the mans double.

"They found you." stated the clone as he banged Yukio on the head before returning to a puff of smoke.

"Damn. Well, put that on my bill." smiled the blonde as he pulled up his hood as he stood.

"Will do." smiled Ayame. As she watched the blonde man jump from house to house.

"Who was that?" asked Mazy as he looked at the brunette woman.

"Don't know, don't care." stated Yukio while going back to eat while Mazy watched the man go.

* * *

"I'm so bored! Where's Sasuke sensei or Sakura sensei when you need them!" stated Yukio as he looked lamely around him.

"Sasuke is still in the hospital, so is Sakura sensei." replied Midori as she sat down on the ground of the first training ground.

"Most of the higher level ninja are there…and will be for a while." stated Mazy as he lamely looked around.

"Hey! Isn't that the Kazekage?" asked Midori as she saw the older man silently and aimlessly walk a bit away from them.

"I heard his wife died recently in the battle in sand." stated Mazy as he leaned against a tree.

"You heard that too? Poor man. To almost loose his village, and then actually loose his best friend and wife. He must be in so much pain right now, wait….who's that with him?" asked Midori as she looked towards them more closely. Then pointed to the man beside Gaara.

"…IT'S HIM! THAT BLONDE GUY!" yelled Yukio as he pulled out a kunai knife.

"I wonder if they know one another?" thought Midori allowed.

"Apparently." stated Yukio.

"He seems to be talking about sand…the blonde is saying…

'_Hey Gaara, cheer up a bit. I know how hard you must have had it the past week. But remember you have to keep walking, and look forward. Right? I mean you're a Kage, you still have a village and two important people to go back too. Don't worry, I'll be here for you like before. And now your dept to me is paid. So stop trying to save my life god damn it!'_

'…' The Kazekage hasn't said anything yet…

'_Remember we're friends, there's no. Who owes who what_!'

'_Cut your hair.'_

'_I think it looks cool!'_

'…_.'_

'_Fine…give me a Kunia-'_

'mumbles?' stated Mazy as he looked confused over to the other males. Then continued.

'_DON'T FUCKING USE THAT SAND YOU ALMOST CUT MY HEAD OFF!'_

'_Now my dept to you is repaid…'_

'_Hey…it looks almost like my old hair style…_'" Stated Mazy as he looked at the two walk away while apile of sand and hair mixed together.

"Did the Kage say his name?" asked Midori as she looked at Mazy.

"No, their to far away. I missed it. But the Kage is saying '_Have you seen them yet?_' '_They've missed you all these years. The Hokage especially_.'" he stated simply.

"So who do you think he is?" asked Yukio.

"Don't know…but what did he mean…_'I'll be there for you, like before_?'" asked Mazy.

"Well we should get going. Its getting late and my mom wont be overly happy if I arrive home late for supper." stated Midori as she stood up.

"Right." stated the other two, knowing they'll be going home to an empty place.

* * *

**One week later**

* * *

"Damn…" muttered the blonde haired male as he was currently being carried away by four ninja. Such were, Kiba, Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru.

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

_Naruto stood in front of the black stone beyond the third training ground and traced the newly carved named inscribed upon it. _

"_Old man, how can I have my name next you yours when I haven't done anything as great as you have…your truly a hero who belonged on this stone…how am I a hero…I hid away while all of this happened…" stated Naruto as tears fell from his eyes. "GOD DAMN IT!" yelled Naruto as he punched the stone where his name was located to only notice another. "Minato?"_

"_Why is it so many people risk their lives for others…I know the answer all to well. But somehow it doesn't seem to ease the pain. All this time….I could have prevented it. Why did you do it? Why did you let me go so you could battle him and end up loosing your life; this isn't fair! Why did you have to go when I returned.." asked the blonde as he bent over the stone._

"_He wanted you to have a chance at life, he knew how much you impacted the village when you were so called KIA. He just wanted you to be here, he knew you could impact and help us out a lot for a long time. Then if he would have stayed alive…: stated Shikamaru as he appeared from behind Naruto. _

"_SHIKAMARU!" yelled the blonde as he jumped backwards._

"_Why do people show that reaction when I'm around?" questioned the brunette as someone pushed past him._

"_NARUTO!" yelled a pink haired female as she jumped at him and clung to him. Tears damping his shirt. "I missed you so much, we…I thought you were-"_

"_I-I missed you too…." he replied as he hugged her back. While a blush remained on his face._

"_Don't get to comfortable idiot. She's mine." stated Sasuke as he pulled Sakura away._

"_Yours?" questioned the blonde as he looked at the two. "You mean? there go my chances.."_

"_What chances?" stated Sasuke in mocking tone._

"_Sasuke!" yelled Sakura as she held back Naruto from attacking Sasuke. _

"_Hey it is Naruto!" stated Choji as he and Kiba appeared._

"_I told you so, my noise is never wrong!"_

"_Have you seen the Hokage yet?" questioned Sakura as she looked to the blonde how relaxed._

"_Well…"_

"_Naruto! How could you not? She's a total wreck, she believed you had left again…and then with…" spoke Sakura as she slowly trailed off._

"_I don't want to, I mean…well"_

"_Don't tell me you're scared! You're the only person I know who can go up to any ninja and demand a fight. And even win! But you're to scared to go talk to a single woman?" stated Sasuke with annoyance._

"_Hey! Put me down right this minute!" screamed Naruto as Choji grabbed him from behind while Kiba and Sakura grabbed his legs, while Sasuke led the way with his hands in his pockets. While shikamaru stayed behind and watched them leave muttering about troublesome. _

_

* * *

**End**

* * *

_

"I TOLD YOU TO LET ME GO!" yelled the blonde as he was struggling to free himself.

"Hey…it's _that _boy. I heard he died, why is he still alive and here?" asked one woman as the group passed.

"It's all his fault the village was attacked and why so many people died.." whispered another.

It was then that Naruto instantly stopped struggling as he heard the many voices of the villagers around him. Sakura had been the first to notice the blondes stillness. As she looked backwards towards the blondes face when she notice the sadden look on his face.

"Naruto…just ignore them." spoke the pinkette as she looked back towards Sasuke who also looked back to see Naruto as well.

"But, their right. If I hadn't had-"

"Naruto! You're fine the way you are…" interrupted Sakura as she looked back to him.

"…..Just let me go." he demanded sourly as he glared towards the girl.

"Naruto, you know we can't do that." said Sakura as she looked down.

"I DON'T CARE! JUST DO IT!" he yelled once more.

"NARUTO ENOUGH!"

* * *

"Hey…did one of you just hear sensei yell the name Naruto?" questioned Yukio.

"Yeah, I did." said Mazy as they instantly followed the group of voices to a small crowd of villagers. Along with a few elite ninja caring something up from the stairs to the Hokages office.

"Hey! Old man, what's going on?" asked Yukio as he looked at an older grey haired man.

"The demon child is-"

"Hush now. It's none of their concern, remember what the third said. The law." snapped the woman next to him.

"But half if not the whole village knows about it! What I mean is all the ninjas of his generation know of it, why most we shelter these children?"

"That's enough!"

As the arguing couple looked behind their shoulder to where the children once were they noticed that they were indeed gone, they were no longer behind them.

* * *

"Around you guys brain dead or something…don't you understand the meaning of LET GO!" yelled Naruto once more.

"Naruto, we're already here." stated Sakura as Sasuke opened the large wooden doors and the three threw Naruto on the ground a few feet in front of the Hokages desk. Then all that Naruto heard was the door closing behind him.

"Damn that hurt." complained an outraged blonde as he picked himself off the floor and looked up to see the Hokage looking towards him at with indifferent eyes. Bottles of sake were scattered around the office, some empty some full.

"Hey- wow…you've gotten old.." he stated as he looked down at her appearance. She no longer looked in her 20's but now in her very late 60's.

"….Naruto"

* * *

"SENSEI!" yelled Yukio as they ran up the stairs and noticed Sakura, Sasuke, Kiba and Choji all trying to listen through the door.

"Yukio!" exclaimed a surprised Sakura as she looked at the bunch. "What are you-"

"Is Uzumaki in there?" asked Mazy as he looked emotionlessly towards the group.

"Well-"

"Yes." stated Sasuke instantly cutting Sakura off as he looked towards the small group of kids.

Silence lasted through out the group until a shrill yell was heard through the Hokages door. As the group of ninja looked over towards it with petrified faces, the voices became louder. And the safety of the blonde inside became apparent.

"NO WAIT! STOP!! PUT DOWN THE CHAIR!" yelled a males voice in fear.

"NO! NOT THE WINDOW!" spoke the male once again, and then the voices stopped and the sound of glass shattering was heard from inside the office.

"LORD HOKAGE!" yelled Sakura as she burst through the door while the others followed. But the only scene they witnessed was the Hokage looking in the age always looked and to see her smiling and brushing her hands off.

"Where is he?" asked Sasuke as he looked over at the woman.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" asked Kiba as he looked over towards the Hokage.

"He's gone to his house, Sakura, Sasuke go and meet him there in about three hours. You three have a mission, he'll inform you later." she said with as smile as she looked towards them before walking away.

"A mission, already?" questioned Sakura as she watched the Hokage walk away.

* * *

**A few hours later.**

* * *

"Damn, how far is it?" asked Yukio as the group followed their sensei's.

"You didn't have to come." said Sasuke as they walked down the newly beaten path.

"But sensei…we wanted to meet him." said Midori as she looked towards Sasuke.

"Couldn't you guys have waited until we got back?" asked Sasuke dryly.

"No." the three replied.

"Hn."

As they walked further on, they came to a large clearing that held a large mansion. Sakura started off down a different path leading to the back side of the house instead of going to the front door. As they walked further they came to a large and beautiful garden. Sasuke, Midori, Yukio, Mazy stood still for a few moments till the quickly went and caught up to Sakura. Sakura then stopped and placed her bag down on the ground, the three students peered from behind her to see a blonde man wearing a pair of black pants that went down to the ground, a pair of ninja sandals beneath that. His shirt consisted off black netting and a large orange and black coat that remained opened. His hair was cut to his shoulders and remained a shaggy spiky mess.

As they looked at him they notice he was glaring at a large stone in the middle of the vast yard. The blonde slowly turned around and looked to see the five then smiled and made his way over towards them.

"You three, I'd like you to meet Uzumaki Naruto." said Sakura as she looked from her students to Naruto.

"Hey!" he said to the three as he looked down to them.

"It's that guy from before!" said the three students in union as the blonde looked them and smiled largely before rubbing the back of his head.

'_So that's Uzumaki_…' thought Mazy with a sly smile as he watched the three adults talk freely with one another.

* * *

_Hey guys sorry it took so bloody long i lost my book that has all my chapters i it and this computer has been shit im not even kidding.  
Another thing STOP DEMANDING CHAPTERS!!!_

_Like i love you guys and stuff but im in grade 12 i have diploma courses and i need to study i barely have a life and the spare time i do get i dont spend it writting these chapters.._

so please stop asking when you gunna do this and that and blah blah blah stop bein like its beeen FOREVER!!! i know it has..i don't need reminding im not stupid. 

_I cant help that my life doesnt go as easy as it used too. but just so you know there are 2 chapters left, and as for mistakes my computer doesnt have spell check sooo dont complain to much. okay?_

anyways i was gunna up-date next week but our techers gave us so much stuff and i have to finish a distance course and ill be on V.K so i won't even be around so im sorry i cant. but i hope you guys have a happy holiday!!!!!

D-A  


* * *


	19. UPDATE

**Hey all,**

So just to let you know...i won't be updating for a while.

Please don't be like OMG! NO!! AHHH! DEATH TO YOU AND YOUR KIN BLAHHHH BLAHH....

Cause right now I have my grade 12 exams going on or...AKA. Diplomas. Worth 50% of my final grade and they go to the retarded school board...

So I will update agian for sure on the either last week of January or first week of February when my new semester starts.

So hang in there. I love you all!!

HALEY!


	20. Note from the dead

_'Short but sweet'_

**Chapter Seventeen: Note from the dead. **

"Damn…" muttered Naruto as his hand clasped on his left ribcage. Only hours before had he been training and mindlessly let his guard down around Sasuke. Never use wind against fire, he only now remembered. As he rolled over to his right he looked to the magenta haired female in his bed sleeping soundlessly. The now 26 year old slowly sat up from his bed to look around his large room before walking over towards his wardrobe.

It had only been three and a half years since he'd returned once again to the village, and two years since he officially moved into the house the fourth once owned. Hinata and him had only been together for a year and half now. As he turned around he smiled towards her once again before placing a black and orange coat on over his black netted shirt and walking out the door.

As Naruto walked down the hall he passed the few rooms he'd never opened since the forth had left. One of which was his bedroom. As he headed down the stairs he passed pictures of friends, family, him, and his beloved plants. As he walked down yet another hall he opened the sliding door, he felt the crisp air hit his lungs as he smiled. Now he would begin his morning training.

* * *

**Three hours later**

* * *

"Where is he…" muttered a silver haired ten year old as he walked back and forth between his two team mates.

"He's probably in trouble with the Hokage again." stated a red haired female with two pigtails as she rolled her eyes to the shorter male.

"Or he could have over slept." added in a 12 year old blunette as he slowly sat down on the ground.

"For someone as smart as you are, you should know he never over sleeps." snapped Lilly as she flung her red hair over her shoulder in an over dramatic way.

"You know what-" he began as he stood up and walked over towards her, his head clearly over hers.

"No, what does she know?" asked Sakura as she placed a hand on her hip and looked at Nico.

"S-SAKURA SENSEI!" he said in a startled manner as he looked at her frightened.

"So what are you three doing?" she asked as she looked at the two twelve years old and the ten year old.

"Wondering where Naruto sensei is…" stated Kain as he fixed his mask on his face.

"Wow sensei…you got **huge**…" muttered Nico as he looked at the pinkette with astonishment.

"That usually what happens when you get pregnant." laughed Sakura as she rubbed her stomach, while doing so she had dropped one of her books, as she went to pick it up a flash of blonde appeared before her eyes. As she looked to her left there was the blonde in question.

"Sakura, you really shouldn't be around like this. You're about to explode…what if Sasuke saw you, he'd try to find a way to blame me for you walking around.." said Naruto as he tried to guide her back to her and Sasuke's place.

"No he wouldn't, and I need something to crush my cravings so I thought I'd go find something in town to eat. And the Hokage told me that walking was good for my health, and the babies." she stated as she looked to the blonde, but as she went to turn around the raven haired man in question was right behind her.

"SASUKE!" screeched Sakura as she held her heart and looked towards Sasuke with fear. "Don't do that!" she cried, close to tears.

"Naruto. Why is she out here.?" stated Sasuke rather then a question as he looked to the blonde.

"I just got here, don't go blaming things on me!" said Naruto instantly as he raised his arms defensively.

"When anything goes wrong your usually the cause of it."

"What…"

"You heard me, dobe."

"Why YOU-"

"STOP! I came out here for some air and to get snacks. No one told me to come out." said Sakura as she glared at the two adults.

"But Sakura your condition, what if something happens to you or the baby-" started Sasuke before Sakura cut him off.

"Sasuke! How many times have I told you!! I'm pregnant…not handicapped."

"Well…lets go get some lunch!!" smiled Naruto as he headed off towards town.

"Sensei! You cant be serious, its only eight in the morning! What happened to our mission?" asked Nico as he looked to the blonde male while his team mates followed the said man without complaints.

"It was cancelled, the old geezer we were supposed to protect died early this morning. No worries, it was natural causes. And unlike you three I've been up since five training." spoke Naruto as he continued into town.

"He's to weird…" stated Lilly as she gave a low sigh and followed the three males none the less, while Sasuke and Sakura followed behind.

"We're lucky, just think if we had Lee Sensei.." whispered Kain, the reaction was mutual among the three kids. Thankfulness.

* * *

**3rd training ground, a few hours later**

* * *

"So can either one of you tell me what it takes to become Hokage?" asked Naruto as he stood in front of the children as they sat near the three large posts.

"Well for starters you have to be the strongest in the village, AND be respected by the people within the country." said Nico as if he copied every word from a text book.

"Have to follow rules, at all times." said Kain.

"To have a brave heart." smiled Lilly as she looked to the man in front of her.

"Well, Yes to the first and the third, no to the second. That's not all there is to it, you _should _follow the instructions givin to you but, you should never. And I mean never give up on the people around you." said Naruto as he looked at the three seriously. "Now, do you see this stone behind me?"

"Yes." spoke the three as they looked to see a giant black stone with a flag pole standing next to it.

"This stone is dedicated to all the hero's to have ever lived within our village." he stated as he pointed towards it. No smile upon his face.

"Oh! I want to be on that stone! I mean who needs to be Hokage when your remembered for all time right there!" smiled Nico as he jumped up. Thrusting his fist into the air.

"The funny thing is, I once thought like that too…but, this is a stone dedicated to all ninja who are KIA." he said with well then a whisper. The three became very quiet.

"Many people I had held close are on here, many who were too young to die. Some are on there because of me. Others because of the demon fox, and many others on missions, wars, and many other things... This is what it is to be a ninja, to live and die for your commander and most importantly your village." he said as he led the children towards the stone, as he approached it his hand ran over the hundreds of names. Stopping at a few.

"I was once on here, that was before- never mind." stopped Naruto as the children looked at him curiously. "So tell me, do you wish to be placed upon here? Because I can easily make that happen." smiled Naruto as one of his clones held a kunai knife to Nico's neck.

"I-" began the boy before he was stopped.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" yelled a voice from across the field. "The Hokage wants to see you, right now!" spoke a masked man as he looked to the blonde, then disappeared.

"Damn, right when it was getting good. I wonder what the old witch wants now…" muttered Naruto as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, this clone staying with them. But put the Kunai knife away and began to teach.

* * *

"Wait here." said the same masked man, leaving Naruto alone in a small room. It wasn't very large, rather small. It held a few pieces of furniture. But what stood out was the portraits of the past Hokages. Naruto silently walked over towards the pictures. Stopping at the third one down.

"Old man." he said with a smile, remembering the times him and the third had fought, and how the man was the first person to never judge him for what he was, and who. "Hn, its you…" he added as he looked over towards his right and lightly touched the picture, then without warning a slip of paper fell to the ground.

Naruto was taken back, as he looked down to the yellowed envelope he slowly bent down and picked it up. As he looked at the front of it, only one name was written upon it. Instantly Naruto tore open the piece of paper and unfolded it and began to read. Not only did he read it once, but three times. Then it fell, silently to the ground without any movements to grab it. And without notice a s voice called him from his wonderland and back to reality. As he looked around he saw the same man standing behind him, telling him to go see the Hokage. And he obliged, picking up the paper instantly as to not forget it. The words still going threw his mind. Over and over.

_Uzumaki Naruto,_

_Believe me when I say this, this is not how I wished to have had it turn out. Also believe me when I say I'm sorry my son, Naruto. That I wasn't there for you, when you needed me the most.  
But the thing I regret most is the way you were treated, the way people looked down upon you with hatred. Also that you were considered a container of a beast, instead of the hero I know you to be. You suffered a lonely and painful childhood, I know I should have been there…_

_But I wasn't. But you should know, I will always be watching over you. My precious son. You should know, I was there the day you were born, you were also there the day I died. Though you cannot remember the first time. Just for you to know, we will always be together. _

_Knowing that I won't be there to help you like a real father would, it breaks my heart, I wish for you to always to listen my former teacher and student. You will learn much. So much you shall be the strongest one of all. _

_I wish for you to remember what Kakashi once told you. **You're the only shinobi who can surpass the fourth.**  
I believe his words to be true, you have become an excellent ninja my son. I wish for you to always to stick to you're dreams. Because with you, I know that they will one day come true, you have a new life now. It's not filled with much pain and suffering as before…_

_Even though you may never see this and will probably never be told the truth, I want you to know that I have always loved you. As well as your mother, she loved you the moment she knew you were to be born. Far longer then I had ever know._

_I wish I could have gotten to know you and be with you much longer, but that was not our destiny.  
I miss you, and will always hold you close to my heart.  
Remember, I will come when you need it the most. To protect you at all cost._

_My son._

_Minato. _

_

* * *

_

**Hours later.**

* * *

Naruto sat alone in his room, it had been hours since the Hokage had seen him. He was home alone, he knew he would be for many more hours. As he looked around he slowly sat up and began to walk. He walked past many rooms and pictures. But he found himself standing in front of one room in particular. As he unlocked the door he slowly walked inside. It was the forth's room, this had been the first time he'd been in there since the blonde man died.

As Naruto sat down on the edge of the bed he gazed out the close window, he could see all the town. Every bit of it. But instead of continuing to sit he got up and walked out the door, and left the house.

Naruto walked aimlessly around the town, without knowing where he was going or what he was thinking he passed people who spoke to him or ignored him. He neither cared nor did he bother to reply to any of them. After an hour of walking he found himself standing in front of the memorial stone, and looked down to two very important names.

_Jiraiya _

_Minato_

As he looked more intensely down at them he gave a low sigh, his rough fingers ran across the stone. A faint smile broke out upon his lips, and he began to speak.

"Hey, it's me. Guess what you old pervert. I did it. I'm the new Hokage, don't you remember how you told me how I was to dumb. I guess I proved you wrong…though you know I could do it all along. Didn`t you?`` he smiled as he looked down, he then began to speak more. ``Ì wish you could be here tomorrow when they announce it.`` said the blonde before turning around to see Hinata who stood feet in front of him, slowly walking over towards him she gave him a hug. While he accepted the girls acceptance and congradulation, he could only think back to before.

_``Remember I will always love you, my son.`` _

_``I know…`` _smiled Naruto as he looked to the sky with hope for the new future and the paths that would come along. He then looked back to the stone and saw not one figure but three. All smiling. And the next second they were gone, he then turned to Hinata and started his journey with her back to town.

_The End_

_

* * *

_

_So that's it people._

_That's the end. I`m thinking of posting a bonus chapter. What do you think?? Tell me before I finish it._

_I hope that you all enjoyed my story, and this will probably be the last Naruto story that I will write. Ever. _

_Who knows. I may write more. We`ll see what you all think._

_But if I do, do not expect a happy ending. My next one I was thinking will be a tragedy and more Naruto, then others. Meaning no SASUXSAK big pairing. Though they will be paired._

_Just let me know what you all think. _

_Please Review._

_Sorry it took so long, I lost the book I was using for these chapters. Yes that is correct I have an entire book filled with this entire story. I also left out many useless chapters while doing this. But I believe it was better this way._

_So tell me if I should maybe write another chapter….well finish.  
And if I should create another story._

_And if I do, it will be after my Gundam Seed one. Who knows. Matters how many people would be up for reading another._

_Thank you for having me as the author of this. And thank you for looking out for me.  
I wish you all good luck on your endeavours._

_Ta._

_Haley a regular 18 year old Canadian girl. _


	21. 15 years after

**Chapter 18: 15 years after.**

The light slowly entered the open window to the right of the room. A blonde head turned slightly in their bed. A mumbled moan came from his mouth as he covered his head with the thin blue sheets, trying to escape from the morning light.

A soft tapping was to be heard from the other side of the door. A magenta haired woman slowly entered, a graceful smile appeared upon her features as she opened it softly and walked up to the blondes bed side. She lightly sat down next to him and pulled down the sheets to show his handsome face and blonde spiky hair. As she nudged him slightly, he gave another moan and his eyes slowly opened as he looked into the face of the woman before him. His blue eyes studied her face before rubbing them slightly and smiling widely at her.

"You're going to be late if you stay in bed any longer. The later you stay up with him, the later you'll be waking up in the mornings." smiled Hinata, as she slowly got off the edge of the bed, while brushing off her dark blue skirt before standing up and fixing her apron.

"I know, sorry." laughed the blonde, as he threw off the covers and slowly walked towards the washroom. While Hinata walked back down to the kitchen to pre-pare breakfast.

* * *

"Hey, look mom. _It's_ ALIVE!" stated a blonde haired female at the corner of the table, as her pale purple eyes watched the other blonde boy walk into the room.

"I am not an _'it'" _stated the blonde, as he grabbed a piece of toast from the table and glared at her.

"Say's you…" she smirked as she looked to the boy.

"So, are you meeting Sachi today…" smiled the blonde across from her, as he munched upon his toast and watched with amusement as the blonde girl blushed.

"N-No!"

"_Liar_, anyways. I'm off. See you later!" he said with a goofy smile, as he walked over to Hinata and kissed her cheek before running out the door grabbing his bag.

"Hmpf" muttered the blonde female as she crossed her arms and glared at the ceiling.

"Your going to be late if you don't hurry. Konohamaru isn't going to wait long for you., you know." stated the elder woman, as she watched the female role her eyes and give a low sigh.

"I know, I know, mom. I'll see you later. You want me to pick the brat on the way home for supper later?"

"Yes please, if you wouldn't mind."

" No problem." she said with a smile as she kissed her lightly as before walking out the door.

"They are more like you with each passing day…" smiled Hinata, as she spoke to no one in particular.

* * *

"Your late, **again**!"

"Sorry Iruka sensei…" smiled the blonde as he entered the huge class room and sat to the back of the room next to a raven haired boy with dark eyes.

"Your late again…"

"Shut up, I know that already."

"Hn."

"So what did I miss?" he asked while looking at the dark haired nine year old.

"Nothing, just review over yesterday's class."

"Ok."

"Now, I thought I'd give you a surprise today. For today's history lesson I thought it would be a good idea to have it out side." smiled Iruka, as he watched their faces light up with excitement.

* * *

"Lord Hokage, these files have just-_Lord Hokage_?…**OH NO**! I LOST THE HOKAGE AGAIN!" said Oden, as he dropped the files and looked frantically around the room for the blonde.

"You lost him _again_?" stated Sasuke as he looked amusingly at the brunette before him.

"It isn't my fault….he just likes to not be in this room all the time…well, ninety percent of the time…" said a depressed 35 year old.

* * *

"Now, who can tell me where we are?" asked Iruka, as about thirty hands raised into the air as fast as the words left his mouth. A small smile graced his lips as he looked over to the blonde whom was the only one not to wave it around like a maniac.

"Nara." said Iruka, as he pointed to a brunette girl whom was gazing lazily to the clouds above. Her dark eyes looked lamely over to the man in front of her. She looked at him as if he were the stupidest person in the world before answering. Just like her father.

"We're on top of the Hokage Tower. And are currently facing the Hokage monument which holds the six faces of the greatest ninja our village has ever produced." her eyes then looked back to the clouds, while the chubby boy beside her laughed silently while the blonde thinner boy only rolled his eyes.

"Correct. Now Uchiha, tell me exactly who they are from left to right."

"Does it have to include names?" asked the raven haired child while looking towards the elder man.

"It's up to you."

"The first one is the first Hokage, the founder of our village is also known to be the strongest of his time. The second is his brother. The second Hokage, was also titled the strongest after the first had gone. The third down, is the third Hokage. He was taught by the first and second. He was one of the longest running Hokage's known to date." he took a deep breath before continuing.

"The fourth down, is known to be _one_ of the most heroic ninja to live. He's the one who defeated the nine tailed demon fox that attacked our village 38 years ago. He was taught by the student of the third Hokage, one of the three legendary sanin. Jiriaya. The next, is the fifth Hokage, our first female Hokage. She is known for her medical ninjutsu. She was also taught by the third Hokage, and was also known as one of the legendary sanin. The last Hokage known to date is the sixth Hokage. One of the most heroic ninja there is. He was the student of one of the Legendary sannin Jiriaya and was the son, of the fourth Hokage. To list all the things he has done for the village would take over thirty minutes….and sensei. I really don't want to list them off." he stated as he looked lamely at the man before him.

"Now-"

"When I grow up, I'm going to become Hokage!" stated a red haired male, as he stood up and pointed to his chest.

"Not with your grades you aren't." said Iruka.

"….Sensei" muttered the boy as he hung his head, while the entire class laughed.

"Now I, on the other hand might just become Hokage!" laughed Iruka as he smiled goofily at his young students.

"How many years have you been making that joke, sensei?" laughed a blonde man as he appeared behind the brunette. Causing him to slightly jump forwards away from the blonde whom was laughing. While a few kids in the class looked oddly at the blonde, while others smiled.

"N-Naruto! I mean Lord Hokage!" yelled the elder man. Naruto smiled as he looked at the brunette as he laughed away. Before turning his gaze questionably towards the large class.

"Everyone, we have a very special guest here today. This is the sixth Hokage. I expect you to show him the same respect as you would show me- well. As you would show a Hokage." smiled Iruka, as Naruto lazily walked from behind the older man to view the large crowd of children before him. Recognizing a face or two.

"Would you like to join us? We are doing our history lesson outside today."

"History? So….I can ask them anything?"

"Well-"

"Alright. Now, let me think…" said the blonde as he placed a hand under his chin. Trying to think of a suitable question. The children looked at him with questionable eyes, trying to understand the Hokage. And why he was speaking so loosely.

"…" Iruka, stared at the blonde, half frightened of what he was about to say.

"Tell me, if you had to protect someone who would it be?" he asked while looking out into the crowd of children.

"I would protect my mom and dad…and my little sister. Even though she annoys me." said a small brunette from the crowd.

"I'd protect my friends." said another.

"Me too." added in another, whom sat next to him laughing.

"I would protect my whole family…and my cat. Bill." stated a small timid girl in the back.

"Lord Hokage, who would you protect?" asked a petite girl in the front row. Her red hair sticking out at odd angles.

"Me?" he asked while the children nodded.

"Well for one, my son. Minato." stated Naruto, while the blonde child in the crowd smiled proudly. While others looked at him in amazement, never knowing he was the son of the Hokage.

"But- I would also protect each and everyone of you here. As well as everyone in our village hidden in the leaves." smiled Naruto, while the various children looked at the man before them in awe. Even Minato looked at him with bewilderment.

"Everyone?" asked the same girl with fiery red hair in the front row.

"Of course. Because each and everyone one of you is important to me." he added as he smiled at nothing in particular. "The children of the village will one day surpass all those who had come before them, so in order for you to be the best you could possibly be it's up to me to look after you."

"Wow…" said a few bewildered children.

"Now. Who can tell me what it takes to be a Hokage?" asked Iruka as he looked at his students fondly.

"To be the strongest in the village." said a small boy in the back row.

"To be admired as a hero!" said another.

"To be accepted by everyone in your village." said the blonde thin boy who looked disgusted to the chubby boy across from him who engulf a huge bag of chips. As he had said those words, Naruto slightly flinched, Minato noticed him but to everyone else it seemed to have been un noticed.

"To be powerful."

"To kill all your enemies!" stated the brunette whom stood up from before.

"Not exactly." stated Iruka as he looked at the boy. Whom looked confused.

"What do you mean sensei?" asked the brunette.

"I have never killed a single person in my entire life." _(A.N again this was actually before Naruto killed a guy. So yea…I'm playing on that one. So don't go OMG LIES..) _stated the blonde as he looked down at them. The children gazed at the Hokage with abnormally large eyes. Their faces blank. Even Minato and Itachi looked bewildered.

"But how is that possible?" asked the Uchiha as he sat next to the blonde. Obviously not believing the man before him

"Well you see, the Hokage has a strange gif-" but just as Iruka was about to finish. Someone had interrupted.

"There you are. You can't just leave when ever you feel like it. Idiot. Even if you are Hokage…" muttered a voice from behind, the students watched as the blonde man hung his head in shame and watched with confusion as he nervously laughed.

* * *

"Hey look, Itachi. It's your dad." muttered Minato. As he watched silently with the Uchiha beside him, they silently watched the elder men silently argue. Only using their eyes. Which seemed absurd to the children next to them, but commonly, and annoyingly natural for the two nine year olds who silently sweat dropped at their fathers attitudes towards one other, even though they were best friends. They still acted like mortal enemies.

* * *

"_Sasuke_. Why are you here. You should be on a mission…" stated Naruto, rather then a question.

"I came back, if you had been in your office. You would have known that. _Dobe_…" muttered Sasuke as he said that last part.

"What did you say!" yelled the elder blonde as the two glared daggers at one another.

"You two really haven't changed…" muttered the brunette man as he looked at them with pity.

"What are you talking about, sensei? I'm way stronger now, then when I was twelve." stated Naruto.

"Obviously." shot back Sasuke. "Or you wouldn't be much of a Hokage would you?"

"Your just mad because I can kick your ass."

"Say's you."

"I've already proven to you that your no match for me you bastard."

"…"

"…" there was obvious tension in the air between the two. Soon the children were sure they could see sparks coming off from the elder men.

"I turn around for one minute. And you and Naruto are already going at it?!" questioned a pink haired female as she walked out from behind the students obviously pissed off.

* * *

"Crap…" muttered Itachi.

"She's mad again….should we go hide?" asked Minato as he whispered to Itachi. Who seemed uncertain of what to do next.

"…It's to late now…"

* * *

"Hey Sakura!" smiled the blonde happily as he looked over to the pink haired female. Who lightly sighed realizing she had just been ignored.

"…" Sasuke stayed silent as he looked down to the large class, and spotted two people whispering. He gave a low sigh before turning his gaze back to Naruto.

"Lets take this else where…" he stated clearly. Obviously annoyed.

"Fine…but I need Sakura to come to."

"Why?" she asked suddenly. Her voice dripped of suspicion.

"I might have broken something…"

"Then get someone to fix it. I'm not a mechanic."

"About that-"

"What did you do?" asked Sakura, as she rubbed her temples. The children weren't able to hear the adults now, they were already headed towards the stairs.

"I may have broken someone…" stated the blonde as a few children flinched back. That was one thing they did over hear.

"What do you mean, by _someone_?" asked a sceptical pink haired woman as she eyed down the blonde.

"It was nice seeing you again sensei. But we should be going." laughed the blonde as he yelled back towards his former sensei.

The pink haired woman's yells could be heard off in the distance as the three retreated away. While Iruka gazed stone faced at the Hokage.

"Are you really sure the Hokage is all that great. He didn't seem all that powerful to me. More like an idiot…" muttered the brunette girl as her eyes never left the clouds.

"DON'T UNDER ESTIMATE THE HOKAGE, HE IS-" stated Iruka before he got cut off.

"It's true you know. He can be a complete idiot at times. Really clueless about the most trivial matters. But when it comes down to it, you'd want him on your side." stated Minato as he looked to the Hokage monument.

"You're just saying that cause he's your dad…"

"No. He's right. To be blank there is a reason as to why he was titled Hokage. In fact. He had the lowest grades possible in school. It took him three tries to graduate…and yet he did it. He was placed under a man for training whom had always failed students. It's true he had failed his chunin exams…but, he had saved the village while doing so. It may be an understatement or an overstatement. But Uzumaki Naruto has become one of the greatest Hokage's to ever have been produced from the village hidden in the leaves. He has allied more countries together then any other Kage. And he has a special ability. One to which a lot of people envy." smiled Iruka as he looked not to the students but to the monument.

"What's that?" asked Minato as he gazed questionably at the brunette.

"He can instantly make anyone a friend just by talking to them. He is able to make an ally with a person even before he asks a name."

"That doesn't seem so great." muttered the Nara girl.

"But it is, it's a hard trait to come by. Honestly its his personality that draws people towards him."

"His personality?" asked Itachi confused.

"Yes, it's unique. He has a never ending determination. He will fight for what he believes in even if he dies. He will continue his path. I doubt even death could stop him again."

"Again? What you mean he already died once!" asked a horrified blonde as he looked at his sensei in distrust.

"No-no…well yes. Well I mean…" as the elder man tried to figure out the exact words to put into context the blonde boy gaped at him. Knowing full well what he was going to ask his father when he returned home.

"Sensei if you were to sum up the Hokage's life, how would you do it?" asked a raven haired girl from the back row.

"The number one loud-mouth drop-out who grew to become a Hokage, who surpassed all the other Kage's." he said with a cheeky smile as he looked at the students before him.

* * *

"You're the idiot, idiot."

"You are."

"No, you are. Idiot."

"I know you are but what am I?"

"Still an egotistic micro sized brained, idiot."

"ENOUGH!" yelled the blonde girl as she glared at the two arguing chunin in front of her. Her eyes cast to the silver haired boy with his hood pulled up and red markings upon his face. Then her eyes cast over a bit less harshly to the magenta haired boy, whom wore a pair of black pants and a long black sleeved shirt with the Uchiha symbol upon it.

"…" the two looked blankly at her, for her sudden out burst of anger towards them.

"All you two do is argue! I swear you two must be the only one's in the entire village who act like five year olds! I bet the Hokage would be ashamed! God only knows what your parents think!" she stated as she dropped her head slightly and rubbed her temples trying to ignore the two. Then blushing instantly realizing she had just yelled at the two most grudge fulfilling people she knew.

* * *

"YOU'RE THE IDIOT!"

"AT LEAST I DIDN'T BRAKE HIS LEG. YOU IDIOT."

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

"YOU'RE THE HOKAGE. ACT LIKE ONE."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN. UCHIHA!"

"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT MEANS! UZUMAKI."

"ENOUGH! IF YOU TWO CARRY ON LIKE THIS ANYMORE! KONOHAMARU WON'T BE THE ONLY ONE WITH BROKEN LEGS!" yelled Sakura, interrupting the two.

Three voices were heard distantly from across the third training ground. As the three teenagers looked to their right they notice Naruto and Sasuke glaring at one another from only a foot apart as they helped carry a wounded Konohamaru towards the hospital. While Sakura followed close behind lowering her head and glaring at the ground as she rubbed her temples. Trying to clear her head of the constant yelling.

"…" the two looked towards the blonde haired girl whom stared blankly at the Hokage himself and an elite ANBU member yell at one another over a trivial matter, like five year olds. Her eyes then looked back towards the boy's and met their gaze and instantly blushed. She lowered her face as to hide it. And slumped to the ground while playing mindlessly with the fallen leaf beside her. Cutting it in half easily with a chakra thread.

"Who's the five year olds now? And what about your dad being ashamed of us? When he acts the exact same way?" smirked Sachi as he looked to the blonde.

"If I recall, your father was their too. Uchiha." smirked Clay, as he looked at the magenta haired teen across from him.

"At least I can actually learn a basic technique, without almost killing your own teamate!"

"At least I didn't have a revenge seeking good for nothing fa-"

"Hey, enough. He didn't mean to harm me that time, you know that as well as I do Sachi. And Clay, that's even low for you. Well it looks like sensei isn't coming today, lets go get some Raman!….Hey, does anyone else smell cinnamon?" asked the blonde haired female.

"…" the two looked blankly at her, trying to understand how her mind possibly works in that head of hers.

"Well. Lets go!" she said with a huge smile as she linked arms with the two boys and dragged them towards town.

* * *

"Are you going to tell me how you managed to brake his leg…" asked Sakura as she leaned over the brunettes leg, her hands hovering only inches above as chakra pumped into the wound.

"…" Naruto remained silent as he looked away from the female and out the window.

"Naruto-" she began again before Konohamaru interrupted.

"It wasn't his fault Sakura, I noticed him training earlier this morning. And without thinking I walked up towards him…"

"And…" she began as she looked at the two.

"I though he was the wood post." stated Naruto as he looked away with a half smile while Sasuke stood in the corner of the room with a smirk.

"You what-"

"Don't get mad, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…" he smiled as he looked towards Naruto.

"I can't believe you! What if that was someone else, one of the children!" she exclaimed as she yelled towards the blonde.

"They would have been smart enough to know not to go near him when he trains." stated Sasuke knowing full well he was right. Both their children knew not to disturb their training time, if so they would make their presence known.

"Sasuke-"

"He has a point mom." smiled Sachi as he looked towards his mother and father as he entered the hospital room, the blonde girl following behind.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Sakura as she gazed towards the two 15 year olds.

"It's almost impossible to go on a mission when your sensei's gone. And even harder to get permission when the Hokage is never where he's supposed to be." stated the blonde as she looked towards her father.

"Ahe-he.." smiled Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're back?" stated Sachi as he looked over towards his father.

"Hn.." was all the reply that he got as he looked over towards the teen.

"How was it, didn't get hurt again I hope." asked the boy as he walked over towards his father.

"Oh Sasuke! You're not hurt are you I mean I never even thought to ask-" began Sakura as she finished putting the cast on Konohamaru and swiftly walked over towards the male in question.

"I'm fine Sakura." he said with little emotion as he gave a slight flinch as she touched his chest.

"I KNEW IT!!! You're hurt! Lay down right now!"

"Sakura-"

"Was that a no?" she asked sweetly as she tilted her head slightly as she looked towards him.

"I'll go lay down." he said with a sigh, rather as to not get hurt.

"_Whipped_…" muttered Sachi as he looked towards his father with a smirk.

"…" Sasuke remained silent, ad just as he lid down a kunai knife missed the young boys head by less then an inch.

"WHOA!" he yelled as he fell backwards knocking the blonde female down. Just as she was about to hit the ground something caught her instead.

"Be careful, she's my only daughter!" stated Naruto as he held the young girl defensively in his arms while looking at the boy from across the room sitting on the floor. Wide eyed.

"D-Dad. How-" she stammered. Never once seeing her father move that fast before.

"Are you alright Kida?" asked Naruto as he set the blonde girl down.

"Y-yea I'm fine.."

"That's good, now I better be getting back before they send out the ANBU to look for me…" smiled Naruto as he leaped out the window. "Don't forget to get your brother after school!" he yelled back before disappearing into the distance.

"Are you alright?" asked Kida as she looked towards the boy who was stuck in place on the ground.

"I'm fine." he stated as he glared at the girl.

"Well fine." she stated as she glared towards the magenta boy before leaving.

"H-hey where are you going!" he yelled towards her as he quickly got off the ground, following her. "Bye mom, dad. Sensei!" he yelled back towards them.

"DON'T FORGET TO GET ITACHI!!!" yelled Sakura as she watched the boy run out the door. Only a faint I won't could be heard.

* * *

**Couple hours later**

* * *

"Sis!" yelled the blonde boy as he ran over towards the girl with confusion and worry across his face.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" asked Kida as she looked towards the boy, obviously confused.

"I heard something weird today, about dad!" he exclaimed as he walked next to her down the street waving goodbye to Sachi and Itachi.

"And what did you hear?" she asked as she looked towards the younger blonde. Who looked pretty tired. "Here, get on." she stated with a sigh as she bent down and let the younger climb onto her back.

"That he died once! And that he was this demon inside of him!" he stated on the verge of tears.

"What!" she said with alarm as she snapped her head back to look at him.

"Yea! It's true Iruka sensei told me that he died once! And old people were talking about it all day!" he said as he looked to her.

"I've never heard that before…" she said as she tried to remember if someone ever told her that.

"I want to know!"

"We'll ask dad when we get home." stated Kida as she walked faster towards their house.

* * *

"MOM WE'RE HOME!" yelled the two blondes as they walked into the house.

"You're mothers not home. She's on a mission with your uncle and Kiba." stated Naruto as he appeared from out of the kitchen.

"Great! You're home! We have questions!" stated the blonde as he ran up to his father giving him a hug before looking towards the blonde girl behind him.

"Questions?" asked Naruto as he looked to the two.

"Yea, Minato found out something today. And, well…" she began as she looked towards her father.

"It's about you, and some demon! And dying and grandpa and-" Minato exclaimed, his words coming out way to fast.

"Ah, I understand. Come with me you two." smiled Naruto as he led the two outside.

* * *

"Why are we here?" asked Kida as she looked towards her father as they stood upon the top of the Hokage monument.

"It's the best view of the entire village." he stated as he sat down upon a bench, signalling the two to come next to him.

"Now, before you begin to ask a million questions at once. I'll just start at the beginning." smiled Naruto as he looked towards the two children.

"The beginning?" asked Minato as he looked to his father.

"Yes."

"Is this going to be a story!" smiled the blonde female as she looked to her father.

"Yes, but this story begins way back. Before you two were born, to the day the nine tailed demon fox attacked our village." smiled Naruto as he looked towards his children. "To the time of the fourth Hokage, the time when there was only a single choice between right and wrong was made…" began the blonde.

None of them knew how long they sat there, listening to Naruto talk about the nine tails attacking and his childhood, Gaara, the old pervert, the third and even his father. By the time that he finished his story the children were tired but in awe. Never had they known the true adventures of Uzumaki Naruto, about how one decision can ultimately change the world as they knew it.

* * *

**The End **

**Hope you al enjoyed it. **

* * *


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